In Spite of a Nail
by Ranger9000
Summary: Take an adventure through the timelines, through the maybes and the might haves. In a set of universes where no Harem ending can happen. The various girls of Daily Life with Monster Girl find their soulmates, one reality at a time. Arc 1 (Zombina x Kimihito) complete. Arc 2 (Rachnera x Kimihito) has finished. Cera arc has finished. Cathyl arc has started.
1. Chapter 1: Meeting a Zombie Girl

**A/N:** Well, this came out of a comment on the Extra Species Appreciation Forum. I originally wasn't planning to write this, but I was waiting for my beta reader to finish up editting Chapter 12 of Spokes of Life and I started on this. A week and a few extra days later and this was done. The purpose of this story is to give a solo pairing story for every girl I can. There will be no harems, though their might be a three way for one plot. Each pairing will get hopefully three Chapters of similar size to this one and they may or may not share reality elements and some will not have Kimihito as the male lead. Note that in this will not be taking over for Spokes of Life on my end, it will instead be wrote inbetween chapters when I find myself waiting for longer periods.

I started with what I think will be one of the harder arcs to write that this story will cover. Now without further ado, Kimihito x Zombina Part 1!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Daily Life with Monster Girl, or any other anime that characters or references may show up from/be alluded to.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Meeting and Dating with Zombie Girl**

Libido Doujin was a rather popular store, though 90% of its clientele would probably die of embarrassment if anyone they knew caught them there. Even if the internet had cut into its business rather drastically the store still managed to bring in enough hard to find doujin that it attracted readers from across the city.

In fact, it had only gotten more popular since the reveal of Liminals to the world. It was a few months after the initial announcement, and the deluge of doujin related to the fact that monster girls and boys had been revealed to actually exist finally started to arrive.

One of these readers attracted by the new content was Kimihito Kurusu, a rather average looking, if rather fit, man in his early twenties. He never liked coming to the place, but with his parents gone for god knows how long, a good amount of allowance from said parents, and a general boredom between classes at the trades school had made it hard to resist the siren's call of the new material. Unfortunately he was having some trouble finding it at the moment. 'Already read, already read, don't want to read...'

Kimihito wasn't sure how it was possible that there was entire bookshelfs full of doujin comics and so many of them were dreck. Yet he kept checking in, looking for the diamonds in the rough every time he made the trip down here, so he needed at least something to show for it before he left, otherwise it would be boring as sin at his family's near empty home. Moving deeper into the store he missed hearing the door chime, not that it would have helped if he did, because Kimihito had picked a bad day to come to the store.

 **BAM BAM BAM**

The sound of gunfire ringing through the store very quickly caught Kimihito's attention, and he darted out of the aisle he was in just in time to both see a group of large and for the most part rather imposing orcs wielding assault rifles, and to hear their leader make his opening statement.

"Sorry to cut in, fellow purveyors of the art of doujin, but this is now a hostage situation!" The orc snorted nonchalantly.

One of the other otaku in the store piped up. "W-What why are you doing this?"

"To get the voice of orcish nerds everywhere heard!" The largest orc said with a laugh, before directing his minions forward. "Now tie 'em up, boys! We got some posters to put up."

**ISoaN**

Why couldn't orcs just complain on the internet like civilised people?

Kimihito wasn't sure, but he reckoned that hostage situations weren't supposed to be about hentai. He was also fairly sure the hostage takers weren't supposed to spend most of the situation looking at porn while everyone else was tied up behind the main counter. Really it had been stressful for the first hour or so, but now it was rather surprisingly boring for him and the other four guys and clerk that had been in the store at that moment.

For some reason only the clerk had actually been gagged.

"So, what do you guys do for work?" One of the other guys asked as the boredom became too much to stand.

"Hey, don't go talking over there or we'll start using our socks to gag you guys." One of the orcs said and that very quickly shut up any potential conversation. The orcs smelled bad enough where they were, being near their socks would likely be deadly.

Unfortunately that only lasted for a little while, before one of the other otaku got bored again. "Well, what is your guys favourite monster girl?"

"Slime." Said one.

"Centaur." Said another.

"Hey! Didn't I tell you guys to shut it back there!" Came the orcs voice again and one of the large porciones walked around the counter and glared down at them, though it was rather hard to tell through the orcs ridiculous bowl cut like hairdo. Then the liminal oinked and his expression lightened as he said. "Though everyone knows mermaids are the best."

"Mermaids are cool, too." The otaku beside Kimihito nodded. Not exactly wanting to say no directly to the gun wielding orc.

"They're beautiful, but I just can't buy into any of the scenarios you can get with them."

"I thought so, too, but check out this great doujin series, ' _Tears Don't Fall Under The Ocean'_ , that deals with that amazingly. It's as touching as it is _touching._ " He snorted cheerily. "I'm serious, go find it if you get the chance."

"Isn't the guy behind that one normally a slime girl fan?"

Kimihito, on the other hand, just kept silent. He couldn't believe the conversation around him was happening in the middle of a hostage situation for crying out loud. Still he was hoping his silence would avoid getting him pulled into the inane conversation and into the attention of the orc. Unfortunately that didn't work to well, as he felt the barrel of the gun poking his shoulder. "Hey, you a mute or something? You're the only one that hasn't given their opinion other than that guy." He jerked the gun toward the gagged clerk.

"No, I just only come here occasionally." Kimihito said with a straight tone. Then he lied through his teeth. "And I usually don't pick up monster people stuff."

"Waah-" The orc started, before being cut off.

"Stubbs, stop talking with the hostages!" Barked the leader orc. "I can smell those cops out there are planning something. They're up on the roof now but they'll be here soon enough."

The orc scarpered off at the shout of his boss, leaving Kimihito and the others to sit there again. Though the black haired young adult wasn't really feeling like just staying there silently now, and slowly shuffled to the edge of the counter so that he could see out.

It was a few minutes of watching the lead orc slowly get closer as he watched the roof, sniffing occasionally. Eventually the mohawk pig grinned and said. "There you are." Before pointing his rifle at the ceiling and fired, blowing holes in the tiles until it collapsed in a cloud of dust and an injured woman. The sight caused Kimihito to recoil and strain against his bindings a bit.

"Hey there little spy, thought you could peek in on us?" The lead orc said as he stomped closer to the downed girl.

"Uuugh, h-how did you find me?!" The downed girl said as she tried to roll over onto her back.

Pointing at his nose the orc boss said. "Guess your boss didn't tell ya we can smell anyone within a kilometer of us."

"You fucking disgusting pigs with your odour fetish!" The woman shot back as she finally finished her roll, only to get a rifle barrel pointed at her chest.

"Too bad you had to have such a foul mouth. Hate to kill such a pretty girl." The leader said, before pulling the trigger and unloading god knows how many rounds into the woman. As soon as his gun clicked dry he pulled out his phone and wandered back deeper into the store along with the rest of his gang.

The whole incident had ticked Kimihito something fierce, the bastard orc leader had just flat out murdered someone in cold blood and everyone outside and in here was useless. He had gotten so pissed was that it took him to notice that he had broken the rope that bound his arms, and none of the orcs were looking his way as he scrambled the few feet to the downed girl.

Kimihito wasn't sure what he was looking for when he got to the girl, she had dozens of bullet wounds and there was no way he could possibly help, but he felt he had to try something. "H-Hey, if you're still there hold on. The police are sure to do something soon." He muttered mostly to himself as he tried to figure if she was even still alive or not.

The more he looked though the more something seemed off. The fluid draining out of her onto his hands wasn't warm, infact it was cold and smelled very odd, almost noxious. Looking closer, he saw that the girl's goggles seemed to cover up stitches, very crude ones all considering. Either the girl had gone through a very large and very poor reconstruction surgery at some point, or something was up.

Then the girl gave a small grin and one eye winked at Kimihito, a quiet. "Don't worry, we got this. Now get back there and we'll have this done in a minute or two."

If Kimihito hadn't frozen up out of terror at the sudden movement from the supposed corpse, he would have given away the deception. As it was though he managed to get his calm before anyone noticed and by the time he was collected the girl was back to looking dead.

Almost wondering if he had imagined the whole thing, Kimihito quickly shuffled back behind the counter just before the orc leader came back, dragging a small girl that Kimihito thought looked very very out of place in a store like this. The orcs on the other hand seemed to be too distracted with her appearance to notice such a discrepancy.

Seeing the dead looking girl on the ground, the new girl took off like a lightning bolt and tore the curtains from the window, just a moment before she got caught by the orc leader again. Kimihito practically broke from behind the counter again when the leader started to molest the girl.

In fact, he suddenly realized that he had just run out from behind the counter with a fist raised.

Just a second before his fist made contact with the back of the closest orcs head, gunfire tore through the walls and in a shower of parts and plaster, destroyed the guns of every liminal in the building. Though before the orcs could exclaim about that, Kimihito's fist made contact with all the power he had within him.

The result was one orc being smashed hard enough that their was almost a noticeable dust cloud from the impact, and the pigman was thrown through the window of the store. Crashing to the ground with an audible thump as silence hung in the room for a minute as the orcs and the girl stared at him and he just stood there awkwardly.

Then the wall exploded and a giant came through the resulting hole and flattened two of the orcs like they were empty cardboard boxes. Then while the dust was still everywhere, the giant said turned to the captured otaku. "Let's get you guys out of here."

Kimihito on the other hand was pushed out the hole in the window and into the waiting arms of a bunch of cops by the girl the orcs had found.

**ISoaN**

It was only a few minutes later when the situation was completely finished. The orcs were getting pulled out by the giant of a woman, while the 'dead' girl from before came out of the doujin store with her top barely on for some reason. Though the barely clothed state she was in did give everyone a rather good show of the many many bullet holes in her body.

Kimihito also had to admit, that if it wasn't for all the... whatever it was... flowing out of her. The woman was definitely not someone he would mind looking at more regularly, or just getting to know. Though he really didn't feel he had the courage to go walk up to the girl as she came into the now dispersing police cordon. Luckily for him, he didn't have to.

As Kimihito sat there wrapped in a shock blanket and his punching arm in a sling, he noticed the girl was walking his way with a large grin on her face. A grin that now showed a large amount of rather pointed teeth. "Heya kid, nice arm you got there. Not many people can slug an orc and make an impact."

Kimihito wasn't exactly sure how he classified as a 'kid', given the woman didn't look that much older than him, though, judging by how she took those bullets, she might just be immortal or something. Rubbing the back of his head with his good arm, he said. "Paid for it with brain cells though. I think I did more damage to myself then the orc…"

"Heh, well it worked out but I wouldn't do that again if I was you. Amazed you didn't break half the bones in your arm with that one. Still though no need to be humble, you did more than any of the other guys in there tried to." The woman said as she slugged his good shoulder before pulling back and offering her hand. "Either way, name's Zombina, thanks for showing some concern in there."

"Kimihito Kurusu. And well, it wasn't like I could just stand by and do nothing. Though, I guess you didn't really need any help." Kimihito said as he shook the girl's hand, only just now noticing he still had a good amount of, embalming fluid if he had to take a guess based off her name, on his hand.

The girl's grin grew even wider. "It's the thought that counts. Though it might make you feel better to know that you're the first person I can actually remember doing something like that when I got hurt."

Kimihito's embarrassment grew further at that, and that only seemed to increase the girl's enjoyment as she continued. "Heh don't go looking like that. Where's the manly persona from the store? You had such a determined look on your face in there it nearly made me blush. Anyways, nice meeting you Kimihito, hope I get to see you around in the future."

With a wave the girl turned and went back to her group, and Kimihito could swear he saw a bit of a sway in her hips as she did. Writing the whole thing off as he was likely to never actually see the girl again, Kimihito shrugged and waited to be allowed to head home.

Though Kimihito didn't know how wrong he was about meeting Zombina again, he especially didn't realize he was going to be proven wrong in less than a week.

**ISoaN**

Kimihito was in his garage trying to make some repairs to his scooter. The wheels needed replacing and the handles some tuning for sharp turns. When he was finally done, he wiped some sweat from his forehead with a cloth and beamed at the finished product. He'd been working on this scooter, big enough for two, for over a week on-and-off, and after his repairs it now looked like it were fresh from the shop. The beaming smile on his face shined almost as much as the polish on the front; it'd be great to take it for a ride. He'd even added a horn to it, just for fun. When he bent over to honk it, he was thrown off by how it sounded nothing like a horn...then he realised he'd heard his doorbell instead. He had guests, it seemed! Kimihito took a minute to wipe his hands off on a cloth, but during that time the doorbell was rung loudly and childishly as if that would make him come faster., provoking a shout of "I'll be there in a moment!" to rise up through the house toward the door.

He wasn't sure if whoever was there heard him or not, but the pace of the ringing reached a speed that he was sure would cause his bell to break. Abandoning the rag, he moved quickly to the door and opened it, expectations of an pushy salesman in his mind. What he got instead was one familiar looking stitched up face, along with a similarly patterned girl attached to it.

"Took ya long enough! It's not polite to keep a lady waiting you know." Zombina said with a smirk that showed off her shark like teeth.

To say Kimihito was confused would be an understatement, and his slack jawed look of confusion was about in line with his equally non functioning mind at the moment, which is why the first words out of his mouth were an eloquent. "Uhhh….hello?"

"And now you're not even inviting me in." The zombie girl said with a teasing grin. "Maybe I was wrong about you. Thought you'd be all polite after you tried 'saving' me back in that shop."

Kimihito shook his head, clearing out the cobwebs of confusion that had taken over. "Sorry about that, just wasn't really expecting visitors today, or to ever see you again really."

"Heh, I was bored and today's my day off, decided I might as well stop by and see if you're any fun to hang around with."

Stepping to the side and waving Zombina in to his house, Kimihito took a moment to realize what Zombina said."Wait, how did you even figure out where I live?"

"I work for the government." The redhead replied like it answered everything, leaving Kimihito to hunch over in dismay for a moment before he picked himself back up.

As the redhead walked past him into the hall of his home, Kimihito couldn't resist looking just a bit. For someone who had died at some point, Zombina was looking very good, sporting large breasts, wide hips, a slim stomach, and most importantly for Kimihito, she had mile long legs only enhanced by short jean shorts she was wearing. All in all she had a well proportioned body most girls would kill for, if she wasn't already dead that is.

"Would you like some tea or something? I don't really have anything prepared."

"Ehh, I can't actually drink anything. Nothing is really moving in here." Zombina tapped her body. "And I'm not really planning to stay around here for very long either. Just wanted to drop by to get to know you a bit better."

"Well then. Umm, feel free to sit anywhere." Kimihito said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

Zombina quickly took up the entirety of the couch, and gave a whistle. "Nice place you got here, wouldn't think a bachelor could afford something like this."

Sitting down in one of the chairs in his living room, Kimihito chuckled to himself. "They couldn't, it's my parents place, they just never come home so it might as well be mine."

"Ohh? What do they just go on vacation a lot?"

"More or less, they work as high profile food critics so they end up touring all over the world. They haven't been home in two years at this point." Kimihito had to admit with some hostility in his tone. He might have been more reluctant to tell about his absentee parents, but he was still rather thrown for a loop by the sudden appearance of the zombie girl at his house.

Then a balled up piece of paper hit him square on the forehead courtesy of the only other person in the room. "Don't be so serious, ya look like you're about to think yourself into a seizure."

"Well," Kimihito rubbed his forehead. "It's just not very often that I have girls showing up at my house."

"Let me guess, not very often means 'first time ever'?" Zombina said with a sharklike grin.

The ensuing blush and stuttered argument, true ones, to the contrary from Kimihito was more than enough to answer her question and Zombina broke out into rather hearty laughter. Kimihito sported a small frown at himself but mostly the laughter only made Kimihito blush worse from embarrassment.

Once she finally calmed down a bit, she said between dying chuckles. "The look on your face was priceless. Though guess all ya gotta work with then is those doujins from the store you were at?" Zombina resettled herself onto the couch into a terrifyingly provocative pose, not helped at all by the short shorts. The tone of her voice as she continued set it all to near 'apocalyptic nosebleed' levels. "Thinking I'm going to come in here and repay you for that rescue with a bit of fun right?"

"N-Not at all! Seriously!" Kimihito got out, and immediately palmed his face at how dweebish that sounded.

Luckily, Kimihito's hands hid away how he was heading toward tomato levels when Zombina continued. "Ohh, you were! Heh, and here I thought you'd be different then those other otaku in there."

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Kimihito put everything he had into pulling himself together so that he could straight backed and say the truth. "I am being serious Zombina, nothing like that crossed my mind. I am a rare customer to places like that."

Unfortunately, that only seemed to make Zombina start laughing again after staring at him for a second. "Hahahahaha! You looked so serious saying that."

The end result of the most recent fit of laughter was the zombie girl tipping off the couch onto the floor, where she just kept laughing anyways.

It was at this point that Kimihito, for all the patience he believed he had, was beginning to feel rather put out by the whole experience. Given at this point the zombie girl had literally showed up on his doorstep out of nowhere and spent most of the last twenty minutes laughing at him. Still, his legs of patience hadn't broken yet!

Finally Zombina stopped laughing and pulled herself back onto the sofa. Her grin was still firmly in place though as she said. "Well darn, guess I'll have to scrap the plan of seducing you into a puddle right out the gate. Seriously though, I haven't managed to get a laugh like that in years. And the last time I did the person like broke down shouting at me by the halfway point."

Kimihito had to admit, he had gotten pretty close to that point himself, but he didn't bring it up. Instead he just said with a slightly strained grin. "Glad I could be entertaining at least."

"Hey don't be like that, you're good guy for putting up with me like this." Zombina said as she stood up. Stepping toward the door, and past the now starting to stand Kimihito, Zombina added, "but I gotta get going or I'm gonna be late. Nice chatting with ya, and maybe next time you can hunt me down at random instead?"

The zombie girl had a large grin on her face as Kimihito walked her to the door and saw his impromptu guest off. The redhead giving him a mock salute as she reached the edge of the property and turned the corner.

Heading back into the living room, Kimihito planned to take a few minutes to figure out just what the hell happened today, only to notice a small flash card sticking out noticeably from between the pillows of his couch.

Wondering if Zombina had forgotten something he went over to pick it up, and when he took a look at it he ended up flushing red for umptimth time that day.

'Who you going to call?

~Zombina'

On the other side of the card was a phone number and a chibi version of Zombina's face with her seemingly signature sharklike grin.

All in all, it was so absurd that Kimihito couldn't help but say to his empty house.

"I feel like I'm about to lose control of my life."

**ISoaN**

It was two weeks later when Kimihito would finally work up the courage to call the number the zombie girl left behind, and if he was being honest he almost was planning to never do so, thinking it was just a joke.

What drove Kimihito to eventually make the call was that he ended home by himself after a day of classes and was bored enough that he decided that even if it was a joke, it was still better then doing absolutely nothing. Also this way he could finally stop wondering if he was missing out on an opportunity or not.

Dialing the numbers into his phone, he waited for a few moments for the dialtones to start and took in a deep breath, fully expecting for this to go to a joke voicemail or something. Only a small part of him was actually expecting the response he got when the phone was picked up.

"Ello, Zombina here."

"Ahh," Kimihito paused for a moment as he got over his surprise. "It's Kimihito, you left a note in my couch?"

"Took ya long enough Kimihito! Here I thought you'd have called me weeks ago." The zombie girl on the other end said, a joking tone interlacing her words. "Was half thinking you weren't interested in a dead girl like me."

"No no," Kimihito's inherent politeness kicked in. "It was just...I kinda thought it was a joke."

There was a self-conscious mumble on the other end of the line, before a laugh he was starting to get familiar with came over the phone line. Though unlikely last time, it didn't last minutes before it finally stopped. "I guess I could see how it could be seen that way. Was kinda sudden afterall. Though I swear it ain't no joke."

"Well that is a relief." Kimihito said with a sigh. "Though I must admit I did not plan on you actually picking up. So I don't really have anything planned."

Zombina's voice was excited as she said "Heh, I can think of something. Meet me over in the park in half an hour!"

Before Kimihito could reply yes or no, the phone clicked dead. "Well, guess I've got plans for the evening…"

**ISoaN**

Twenty minutes later, Kimihito ended up at the only park of note in the area, figuring it'd be better to early than late. Dressed in an open button up shirt with a T-shirt underneath and jeans, Kimihito thought he looked reasonable enough to show up anywhere. Given what he knew of Zombina he figured it'd likely be best to dress casual.

His intuition proved itself very right when, after sitting beside the fountain in the center of the park for ten minutes that felt like ten hours, Zombina showed up dressed in the same tanktop and short shorts as last time. The only difference was that she had added a bomber jacket to the mix to make up for the colder weather of the encroaching evening.

Wait, did Zombina even feel the cold? Kimihito figured probably not which made the bomber jacket just a stylistic choice. It wasn't like he could say it wasn't a good one though, the jacket hanging off her frame without diminishing it in any way.

"Hey Kimihito! Left you waiting long?" The zombie said as she approached with a wave.

Kimihito shook his head and lied. "Nah, just got here. So, umm, what is the plan?"

"Well, we're going out on a date!" Zombina said without even a hint of pause. The sheer casual way the words were given proved that Zombina was still very adept at throwing Kimihito for a loop.

After a moment to collect his thoughts, again, Kimihito nodded. "Okay then?" It wasn't like he was actually against the idea of a date with the zombie girl, though he had to admit he wished he had a bit more time to get to know the woman. Still, it'd be pretty rude to tell her no now, especially with how eager she seemed to be.

"Great!" Zombina grabbed Kimihito by the arm. "I got just the place in mind!"

Then her hand fell off.

Staring at the detached appendage, Kimihito's eye's glazed over as he thought. 'You know, this isn't as terrifying as I thought it would be. I think...'

Kimihito grabbed the detached hand by the wrist and lifted it up toward the annoyed looking zombie. "...You lost this?"

If anything the look of confusion on Zombina's face outdid the one on Kimihito's. "Wait, you're not freaking out?"

"No? With all those stitches I kinda figure something like this has to happen occasionally." Kimihito said, scratching the back of his neck with...Zombina's hand. "Ahh, do you have a needle and thread, I could sew this back on."

"You can sew?" Zombina said absently as she started to root through her pockets, the shock of a human not freaking out at the sight of her hand detaching still not having worn off yet.

Kimihito nodded. "Yes, I fix all my own clothes and stuff to save on costs."

A minute later, the two were sitting on one of the park benches, with Kimihito just starting the first stitch to reconnect Zombina's hand. Kimihito couldn't help but voice one thought going through his head. "You know how do you actually control your hand if it just can come off like this?"

The flat look he received from the zombie girl almost made him regret asking the question. "I'm the living dead, and you're questioning how my hand works?" Then she looked sheepish. "Though to be honest, I don't actually know. I kinda just work."

"Ahh, well you ever try moving your hand when it's not attached?"

Zombina pouted. "Yeah it doesn't work unfortunately. I can only control parts that are connected to my head. It sucks, I can't go shooting crooks in the back with a detached arm."

Kimihito worked in relative silence for a few minutes, making sure each stitch was right until finally the hand was fully reconnect. "There you go, that all back and working?"

Wiggling her fingers, Zombina had to admit, Kimihito had some skill at this, though she had to wonder if he'd be more freaked out about this if it had been something more important than her hand that had fallen off. That was something for a different time though, for now they had a date to go on.

"Yep, everything's working good, thanks for that. Now let's get going or we'll miss the showtime!"

"Ahh right, I almost forgot that was what we were going to do." Kimihito said with a hint of embarrassment before the zombie girl grabbed her with the newly stitched hand and dragged him along as she sprinted off.

**ISoaN**

'Well, this isn't surprising.' Kimihito thought to himself as he found himself sitting in the theater for a showing of some western zombie movie. They had arrived just in time for the trailers to come to a close and Zombina was sitting beside him looking like she was about to leap into the screen in anticipation.

"Ooohh, I hope this is going to be like the book. I've been waiting for it to get a movie adaption for so long." Zombina said just before the lights finished dimming and the movie began to start.

As far as movies went, Kimihito had sat through worse. He had to admit this was the first time he had ever been able to go to a movie with a girl so that helped a fair bit. Even if he tried to avoid it, he caught himself looking over at the redhead more than a few times throughout the showing, the zombie girl's golden eye practically glowing in the lighting of the theater. It's like it were competing with the movie for his attention - or was that in his head?

Add onto that the amount of skin he was getting to see thanks to Zombina shrugging off her bomber jacket as soon as they had gotten into the theater, and Kimihito was having a very hard time looking away from the entrancing profile of the girl.

His face blanked for a moment when he noticed that thought. 'Does that make me weird? Like what would my parents think? Wait, why the hell do I care what those two think at all? And yeah, she's dead, but so what? She acts like a normal girl. If it wasn't for the stitching everywhere and the fangs, I'd say it would be near impossible to tell her she was a zombie at all.'

As the movie continued, Zombina seemed to lose a bit of interest, a tinge of a disappointed frown coming to her face. Her attention waning from the film, she looked over and noticed Kimihito looking at her, the frown immediately changing into a teasing grin and a bit of an embarrassed blush.

Seeing the human hadn't noticed she'd caught on yet, she twisted a little bit, the preening movement causing Kimihito to blush himself and start to look away. The attempted turn back to the film caused him to see her looking and then he got even more flushed.

"Ahh, so-" He started to say quietly, before Zombina cut him off equally quietly.

"Don't worry 'bout it, it's flattering to have someone actually interested in me for once. Most humans are just disgusted with the whole dead thing you know." The zombie's words were sincere, before they turned teasing again. "Don't think you aren't going to have to take me out a few more times though if you want to get anywhere though."

"Hey, can you two get back to watching the movie? I think the actions about to get going again." A wolfgirl behind them said with an annoyed tone. "If you wanna make out, find another seat so you aren't as distracting to me or something!"

Sufficiently chastised, a blushing Zombina and Kimihito turned back to film, and tried to watch it through till its climax. As the film went on longer, Kimihito was trying to keep his eyes on the film again. It really wasn't that interesting to him. It really didn't help that he could practically _feel_ the stare of the wolfgirl on his back, waiting for him to get distracted again so she could tease him. Really, what was it with monstergirls and the teasing? He didn't even know who the one behind him was and he could tell she'd be merciless if she got the chance.

Zombina was equally bored with the film. It had started off pretty good, but it deviated so far from the source material that it lost her interest fast. Only a few scattered scenes got her attention back as more parts true to the book appeared, but in general she was thinking to herself. A task that was more difficult than it had been before her zombiefication. Only her friends knew that the mild brain damage she had suffered made her usually go with a 'do first, ask questions maybe later' mindset. It was what had caused her to go randomly stop by Kimihito's house in the first place, and to bring him out on this impromptu date.

It was also that same mindset that was telling her she wouldn't mind going out with him again. Infact she would very much like to do so. He had taken her oddities more or less in stride, going along with the flow of her personality and he didn't even freak out when she lost her hand. Also he had actually tried to help her at the store, and had enough strength to lay an orc flat with a single punch. She'd still have to test him a few times more though, make sure he wasn't just really good at hiding his annoyance or disdain at her.

Finally the movie came to a close, much to the relief of both Kimihito and Zombina. The latter was especially vocal about her complaints with the film. "Damn, they had to ruin it! The book was so good and they had to throw practically it all out."

"I have to admit, fast zombies are not really my thing." Kimihito said a bit unsurely, he did always prefer the 'slow' zombie in stories, but at the same time Zombina probably fell somewhere into the fast catagory herself. "They trade tension for action."

"I know! Living dead in movies are so lively these days. It's not that action is bad, but zombie movies are supposed to be about the slow horror of an implacable, innumerable foe!" Zombina started to go on a rant about the state of the horror film genre these days, and Kimihito slipped into polite listening and nodding mode until they eventually ended up at a large apartment building not far from Kimihito's place.

"This is my stop." Zombina said as she noticed where they were. "It was fun." The teasing smirk returned in full force "Loverboy , don't wait two weeks to call again next time okay?"

With a laugh at Kimihito's stunned look at the nickname she had given him, Zombina turned and walked into the building, a genuine smile on her face as she took the elevator to her floor and settled into bed.

Kimihito had a smile on his face too as he walked back to his home. 'Heh, wonder what mom and dad would think if I told them I'm starting to fall for a dead girl. Probably wouldn't even pick up the damned phone but it'd be amusing if they did.'

**ISoaN**

Turned out that it wasn't his parents who Kimihito was going to end up telling about his budding relationship first. It was instead his three friends he'd known all the way through high school. Since they had all gone to gone to different cities or schools after they finished their secondary education, they hadn't all met up as much as they used to, but sometimes they liked to surprise him with random visits. These were some of Kimihito's favourite moments; it was good to keep in touch, even if he wasn't very good at it.

He had his head down in a math textbook, smoke practically pouring from his ears, when his doorbell belted out a jaunty tune that he had long ago associated with his friends arrival. His friends almost always showed up right before dinner but he didn't mind.

Slamming the math textbook shut, just happy to get away from the damned thing, he stood up and called out. "Coming. Just give me a second."

When he pulled open the portal to his house, he was greeted by two males and a single female crowding around the door. The tanned female, who stood in the lead of the trio, bore a resemblance to Zombina in the way she dressed. Shorter than Kimihito she had a rather thin body, a mechanical right arm she'd gotten from an incident a few years back, and a large grin on her face. "Good you're home. I was half worried we were going to come all this way only to miss a meal. Keitaro finally decided to get away from all his girls and remember we exist so I figured we'd get the old band back together for the night."

"Aww, come on, Paninya." The shorter of the two boys behind Paninya said while looking rather awkward. He had messy short brown hair, thick square rimmed glasses, and looked as stereotypical of a nerd as he looked dependable. "They aren't my girl's, I just run the dorm! And it's not like I forgot about you guys, but you barely check your emails and Kimihito doesn't even have a computer."

"Of course I don't. Damned things just break down all the time and that's when I can even get them to work." Kimihito groused.

The taller of the two men, called Kazuto, looked somewhat closer to Kimihito then to Keitaro. He was actually taller then Kimihito, with a somewhat more slender build and rather over greased black hair. Listening to Kimihito's complain he just sighed. "Really, I still can't believe after all my attempts to teach you how to use a computer, you managed to still be unable to figure out how the search bar works."

"Look, you want to come in and leech off my dinner or not? Cause I'm not going to feed any hyped up computer nerds." Kimihito shot back at Kazuto, a hostile look in his eyes for a few moments.

Then Paninya broke out laughing and everyone joined in a moment later. "Yeah, right! Now come on Kimihito, let us in!"

"Fine fine." Kimihito said and let the trio into his home. "All I was planning to do is a new Kraft Dinner recipe so that's what you're getting."

"Ehh, not like we'd ever turn down your cooking. You could make, like, a rock taste good." Keitaro said as he passed. The smaller man pushing his glasses up his nose as he did.

The four had all gone their separate ways after high school, with Kimihito heading to trade school as an mechanical technician, Paninya going into engineering at the local university, Kazuto went to the same university but was taking computer science, and Keitaro had tried to reach high to go to Tokyo University but ended up missing the cut and running a family owned female dorm or something a few towns over. The bespectacled man had insisted that none other than Paninya ever visit him there unless they had their health insurance paid up and Kimihito took that at face value and stayed far away from the place.

Out of the group, Kimihito was the least academically inclined, as while Keitaro had failed to even get into a school, he had only just missed the mark for the most prestigious university in the country and only wasn't in schooling because of his one minded obsession with Tokyo U. He had also left out his math homework for the coming week in plain sight.

"Ooh, let's take a look at that." Paninya's voice echo'd through the house ahead of the group, and Kimihito felt a headache already forming in his head. "Wow, this is really bad Kimi. Seriously, this is like basic stuff here."

Kazuto's voice came next as Kimihito tried to worm his way around a slow Keitaro. "Seriously man, this is atrocious, and why are you doing long division? We have calculators for that, you know."

Finally muscling his way past his diminutive friend, Kimihito practically burst into the room and slammed his hands over the opened textbook. "You guys haven't been in my house for two minutes and you already telling me I'm an idiot. Why do you think I went to trade school!"

"Ya ya, we're just teasing you." Kazuto said as he stepped away from the table. "Though you really should get yourself a calculator, it'd really help."

"I'll consider it, now how 'bout you guys get in the living room and I'll get dinner started?" Kimihito tried and succeeded in shooing his friends out of the room. Though he didn't notice his pocket was lighter than it had been when the door opened.

It would be ten or so minutes later, with the recipe set to cook, that Kimihito would head into the oddly quiet living room. It was odd because his friends usually were a talkative bunch, or at least Kazuto and Paninya were; when they were all together, not even a desire to sleep would be enough to get them to stop talking.

Unfortunately, as soon as he stepped through into the room he could immediately tell this was going to be something bad for him going by the shit eating grin the tanned girl was sporting. "Okay, why are you looking at me like that?"

Paninya wouldn't respond vocally, instead just holding his phone over her head. Prominently displayed on the phone was Zombina's contact spot in his address book. It was Kazuto who spoke up instead. "Sooo, got yourself a girlfriend? Though what's up with the odd name, she one of those really out there girls or something?"

Keitaro gave Kimihito a 'Bad luck bro' look from his own seat even as the other two stared at him with demanding eyes. Kimihito held steady for about twenty seconds before he finally broke down with an explosive sigh before he said. "Not yet."

"Our little Kimihito is finally growing up! Soon it'll just be Keitaro that's the ever-virgin of the group." Paninya said over a squawk of protest from the bespectacled friend. "So what's she like? Also, really, what's with the name?"

"Ahh, well..." Kimihito scratched the back of his neck. "She's pretty nice, very impulsive-"

"Sounds like that crush you had on Paninya back in grade 10 never really left, did it?" Kazuto chimed in.

"Ha, I knew it!" Paninya's head piqued up with a teasing interest and pointed at Kimihito.. "You were always so awkward around me that year!"

Kimihito on the other hand just continued on with only a glare at computer friend for bringing that up. "Regardless, uhh, you guys been following up with the whole Monster people stuff?"

"Yes, some of those monsterboys are real hunks, though they're always paired up already." Paninya said with a pout.

Keitaro, on the other hand, shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah, there's an oni girl at the inn, she's the source of most of my repair bills."

"So it's a monstergirl that's got your eye?" Kazuto said, this time staying on target while the others got distracted. His friends eyebrows narrowed as he thought for a few moments. "With a name like that... she's an undead girl isn't she?"

Kimihito nodded, Kazuto had always been good at spotting things out with little information to go with. "Ya, she's a zombie girl."

Now it was Paninya's turn to look pensive, though she wasn't looking at Kimihito at the moment. "So wait, you want to date a dead girl? Isn't that kinda...weird?"

"Eh? If he likes her I don't see why that'd be a problem, she's up and moving and all that so she's pretty much alive." Keitaro cut in as he saw the rather terrifying look that was starting to form on Kimihito's face at Paninya's words.

Kazuto also saw it, and tried to assist Keitaro in averting the coming storm. "Yeah, I've looked into all the different kinds of monsterpeople. Unless she's an early zombie she's pretty much completely alive anyways. She's just got some extra considerations to worry about."

"Ehh, I still think it's a bit creepy-wah!" Paninya found herself picked out of her chair by the shoulders and carried toward the front door. Realizing she was about to get kicked out she started flailing. "Hey wait, don't do this Kimihito! I'm sure she's not creepy or weird or anything!"

"Wrong choice of words." Kimihito said darkly, and the next moment his tanned friend would find herself sitting in the grass outside his front door. Before Kimihito could shut the door on her though the girl threw a puppydog like look at him.

"I'm sorry Kimihito! I'm sure she's a great girl! It's just hard to tell without meeting her!" Paninya said quickly. "Please don't kick me out! I'm really hungry!"

Kimihtio glared at his friend, but just like before he couldn't hold it for long. His tone wasn't terribly friendly though as he said. "Fine. Come on."

"Yay! Thanks Kimi!" Paninya lept off the ground and ran in. "Though you realize now you _have_ to let us meet your little girlfriend, just to prove me wrong right?"

"Ya I'll get on that, as soon as I can actually work myself up to ask her." Kimihito said, the anger linking out of his tone with each word. "Now come on, dinner should be just about ready."

Thankfully the night was so merry that Kimihito wouldn't feel the need to toss anyone out again.

**ISoaN**

It was a few days after his friends visit when Kimihito would call up the zombie that was getting his heart going. The trades student even had an idea where to go, not that he told Zombina about the plan beforehand, just that she should meet him in the park again. So as it was he now found himself walking alongside one redheaded dead girl who was going on about another day at her work.

"The bastard claimed he was shooting a documentary, but he was really just taking the footage and selling it to porn studios! To add onto that, he was taking stuff like a harpy's egg and trying to sell it on the blackmarket." Zombina's voice was tinted with righteous anger at the person she only described as 'The Director' that her group had captured just yesterday.

Apparently they had received a tip from a family that had 'sold' their homestay to him because they were terrified of the arachne they had gotten assigned, though they later came to regret their decision and thus the tip. Going off that they had found the guy and busted him, and it turned out that while the Arachne hadn't been abused, she had her opinion of humans rather ruined and demanded to be sent home.

"At least he's locked away now, right?" Kimihito put in his comment into Zombina's at this point ten minute long rant.

"Yeah, and with all the stuff the judge is gonna slap him with, he's probably going to be in jail for the rest of his life, so there's that at least. Still, I can't believe someone would sell their homestay like an item. Even if they regretted it later they should have gotten a big ass fine or a bit of jail time or something!"

Kimihito had to agree there. The fact that the spider girl's hosts had gotten off scot free in the end due to the incomplete laws rankled him too. Still though, they were quickly approaching the destination he had in mind, and Zombina seemed to be catching onto that.

"Hey, where are we going anyways? You never did say and we've been walking for a while." The redhead said as she looked sidelong at Kimihito and tried to scope out a place nearby.

Kimihito grinned a bit at the look he was getting. "Yep I didn't say, thought it'd be better if it was a surprise. Don't worry, though, it's only a few minutes from here."

"Hmmm." Zombina pouted at Kimihito, before she pouted. "Come oo~on, tell me."

"You just have to wait, like, five minutes…"

The pout doubled. " _Come oo~oooon_."

"It's just around the corner!"

" _Come ooooooooooon!_ "

"There, just look in front of you!" Kimihito said as the zombie girl's pout reached critical mass, grabbing her cheeks between his hands and turning her attention back to the front.

As he watched, Kimihito could practically see Zombina's eyes starting to glow at the sight of the date location. He wasn't really sure how she had missed hearing about it before, but judging by her reaction she definitely hadn't.

"Ooh my god! I thought this wasn't supposed to be coming here this year!" Zombina said as she practically jumped at the sight. "Come on, we got no time to waste!"

And so the zombie girl grabbed Kimihito by the hand and dragged him off once more, this time into the convention hall they had ended up in front of. The building sporting a large 'Zombie-con' banner over the front today.

**ISoaN**

After paying for both his own and Zombina's tickets, Kimihito found himself getting dragged throughout the large convention center. The pair passed everything from movie and book panels, to new video games, to costume contests filled with people in makeup and ragged clothes.

The entire time Zombina was practically like a kid in the proverbial candy store, focusing on one thing only long enough to drag Kimihito to it before she got distracted by something else. Each new stand that took her attention threatened to dislocate Kimihito's arm as he was jerked all over the place.

Yet despite that, he didn't mind. For one, Zombina was having a blast, and two, he actually found half the stands interesting. Especially two stands that offered 'Fit for a Zombie food.' That was actually directed at undead monster people, though he had a hard time getting Zombina to stay still long enough for him to grab a recipe book from the tables.

After that he had fun watching Zombina enter into one of the costume competitions. She nearly managed to take the victory before the judges figured she was an actual zombie and she ended up disqualified, though she got a consolation prize in the form of a Dawn of the Dead poster.

From there it was on to a near endless gallery of zombie games, with Zombina apparently having absolutely no qualms with blasting her virtual counterparts. Indeed she seemed to take to the games like a fish to water and played with obvious long practice. Kimihito on the other hand, never really one for games that weren't on the Wii, had a much more difficult time of it and served more to drag down the zombie girl then to help. Zombina didn't seem to mind though, and kept pulling him to new games every time they lost at one.

The night began to wander on, and as it went the pace they moved at slowed as they began to sit in at panels and movie showings. Even when seated, Zombina didn't let go of Kimihito's hand, either because she forgot she was doing it, that she found the warmth the living human gave off almost too good to pass up on, or some mix of both. Indeed, as the night wore on she found herself leaning more and more against the human that put up with her fangasming over the zombie-con.

Kimihito certainly wasn't going to comment on how by the fourth evening panel they had made it to, Zombina had practically molded herself to his shoulder. Though he couldn't help but yawn a bit at the panel itself. It was nearly 11 PM and he had classes in the morning, but he wasn't about to make the redhead girl stop having fun.

Zombina noticed Kimihito's yawn, and couldn't help but replicate it herself. While the panel was interesting, they'd been at the con for nearly eight hours now, and she had been moving at full pace nearly the whole time. "Hey, are you tired?" Zombina looked over with a knit eyebrow.

"Whuh? No, no." Kimihito shook himself awake, then forcefully suppressed another yawn.

"I've had a great day so far, you know. If you're tired,like you living people get, it's okay if we head some place else."

Kimihito wasn't sure how to react to that. "I won't lie, I would like to head home. I'm having a good time, but tomorrow's another day, y'know?"

"I know. Let's just wait for a pause in the talking and we can go." Kimihito replied with a nod, and in five minutes' time the two were heading out of the building and back toward Zombina's apartment. Kimihito had to admit, out in public he felt a bit more awkward about having the zombie girl practically hanging off his arm, but that was only because he got a few jealous looks from the few other guys that were out that night.

The only exception was one glare that set him on edge, from a rather ugly looking man that was out with his girlfriend. It really wasn't so much of a glare as it was a mocking and disproving looking. Zombina noticed it too, and unfortunately the pair were on the same side of the sidewalk they were on.

"Hey would you look at that? It's a rotten girl." Came the voice of the guy as they got closer. He pinched his nostrils shut as he snickered snidely. "Don't get how you can stand to be around her, bro, what with the stench the dead's got to be giving off."

"Hahaha, good one beau! Look at those stitches, she looks like a bad quilt." Said the girl, quickly proving herself to be as equally as much of an asshole as her boyfriend.

Zombina looked like she was about to pop a vein, which would be bad for everyone involved given the formaldehyde running through her bloodstream. "Hey, what the hell are you saying about me!"

"Ahh ahh ah, dead girl!" The guy said as he stepped in front of his girlfriend and waggled a finger in Zombina's face before flicking her on the forehead, ignoring the literal fangs being barred by the zombie girl. "You can't touch me, or you'd get sent back to the grave you came from."

Zombina was about to tell him how she'd likely get off with it given who she worked for, but before she even got a chance to, she felt the air displace beside her. Noticing Kimihito moving, her frown turned to a grin in a second as the black haired man's fist flew forward with all the strength he had unleashed on that orc before. The meaty thwack of fist meeting face would sound out through the street a moment before the force would actually be applied and the man's visage would practically deform for a single moment more.

Then he went back flying about five feet and took his girlfriend with him, leaving them both collapsed in an unconscious heap.

"Those two need to learn basic politeness." Kimihito said as he held his punching hand, looking as if he hadn't just punched the lights out of two people with a single thrown fist.

"Heh." Zombina started laughing at how 'normal' Kimihito made what just happen look. "Hehehehehe." A moment later the zombie girl was almost rolling on her back in laughter, only barely being able to keep walking forward as she did. "Ohh god Kimihito, that was great! The look on that guy's face as he flew away. How did you even learn to punch like that?"

"Ahh, well, I kinda got really bored a few years back, and I took up some boxing to help kill time. I figured it wasn't for me, even though the trainer said I had a mean right hand."

"Maybe I'll have to see that for myself. I haven't had a good chance to fight someone of a normal size in a while." Zombina said with a big grin, practically bouncing in her step as her energy seemingly returned after watching that scene.

Kimihito on the other hand looked a bit terrified at the possibility of getting into a boxing match with a woman that couldn't feel pain and had no restrictions on how much she could work her muscles. Even if he thought himself durable, that was a recipe for a thrashing right there. "I'd be up for it, but I think I'd have to train a bit more to have a hope to keep up with you."

"Eh, I was mostly joking." Zombina waved it off and grabbed his hand again. "Though guess I should be thanking you again for _saving_ me from a big bad villain of the day." The way she said it left Kimihito feeling more embarrassed than proud or anything.

"I figured you could deal with it yourself but this saves you some legal trouble." Kimihito said as he tried to cover for himself a bit.

His awkwardness only caused Zombina to break down laughing once more. "Don't ever change, loverboy, I'd be disappointed if I lost out on all the laughs you give me."

Kimihito mentally gulped, steeling himself as he reached out and wrapped an arm around the zombie girl's shoulder. "D-Don't worry I won't. I'd be just as bored if I drove you off."

Zombina tried to look serious for a moment, but with a 'pfft' she broke down laughing again, even as she laughed though there was a blush on her face. When she finally calmed down though she said. "Guess that means I can look forward to another outing with you again?"

"Y-Yeah." Kimihito rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. If she was that interested, then he suddenly had a bold thought rushing from his heart to his head. One that he was afraid to follow up on...but why not?

"Hey Zombina, w-would you like to actually...actually go steady?"

Zombina's blush grew drastically at that, and she went quiet for a bit. In fact it was a fair bit longer then a 'bit' as she was silent till they finally got outside of her apartment building. Kimihito, meanwhile, spent the whole time sweating bullets as he waited for a reply, stopping himself each time he thought to blurt out that she didn't have to. Eventually that answer came in the form of a question. "You're serious? You're willing to actually have a zombie girl for a girlfriend?"

"Yah." Kimihito said, his voice serious. "Really I don't even see a zombie girl with you, Zombina. You act like a normal girl, you look like a normal girl other then the stitches, and it's not like you're trying to eat my brains. So ya, I'd like to have you as a girlfriend."

Again a bit of silence, but it was much shorter than last time. With a oddly shy smile for her, Zombina said. "Okay then, you can go tell all your friends that you're now dating a dead girl." Stepping up on her tiptoes a bit she gave Kimihito a cute kiss on the cheek. "Seeya soon then, loverboy!"

With that she darted off into her building, though just before she went inside she turned and shouted back at Kimihito. "Oh, and wash that off before you do anything, if it gets in your mouth you might become a zombie too!"

With that she disappeared inside, and left an elated Kimihito to head home and wash that cheek off before he went about planning their next date.

**ISoaN**

After the date at the zombie convention, Kimihito and Zombina met up frequently, usually for no more than an hour or two, just wandering around town or going to a new movie. Occasionally they'd meet up for a longer date, like a visit to a regular anime convention, or just a day in town doing various things. After each date the rather unusual pair got closer as couples do. On Zombina's own insistence things had been kept rather chaste between the two to avoid risking a potential zombiefication incident.

The other thing that had started to happen much more regularly was Zombina showing up at the human's house most days after her shift ended to join in on the dinners he made. Even with his prodigious cooking skills, the first time he had tried to cook from the recipe books he had picked up at the convention had been a near disaster. Mainly because cooking for a girl that only had some parts still working was a rather unusual task.

First off all the foods involved had to biodegrade easily enough, even though surprisingly enough zombies had very strong 'digestive' systems, even if they got no energy out of eating, entirely in the form of very potent bacteria that broke down just about anything they ate. The only problem was that the bacteria could not handle heavily processed foods very well. Zombies also still had functioning tastebuds, so it couldn't just be tasteless gruel.

The book stressed that zombies very much needed to persist in the practice of eating normal food, as it helped them maintain a link to their pre zombie personalities and kept them from potentially regressing into a dangerous state out of hunger. It was also why most of the recipes in the book called for things like headcheese to be included as while it rarely contained actual brains, it turned out just 'stuff from the head' worked well enough, even if it wasn't from a human.

Kimihito had to admit, he didn't think there was that many things someone could do with the odd European meat, but he had been proven very wrong ever since he had started dating Zombina seriously.

Today, though, as Kimihito was cooking a new meal in preparation for Zombina's arrival, he received a text from the zombie woman. 'Rest of team coming, throw together extras.'

"Huh, well, guess I can put some more together." Kimihito muttered to himself as he headed into the fridge and pulled out some more ingredients. Including at least a few non-zombie food items depending on the other girls tastes. He had heard from his girlfriend more then enough about the other girls to have some idea about them, and he quickly quadrupled his planned meal sizes given the ogre in the group that would be showing up.

The whole time though he had to admit he felt rather nervous, mostly because the way Zombina went on about her teammates they were practically a family to her. Infact he was fairly sure that their was a hidden underline to the dead girl's text, to be on his best behavior because he was about to be shown off to a bunch of sisters.

Kimihito just managed to put on the finishing touches for the veritable feast he had thrown together when he heard the doorbell ring, multiple times, in quick succession. A sure sign as any about the presence that the rather excitable zombie was on the other side of the doorway.

"Hold your horses, Zombina, I'm coming!" He shouted as he headed for the door and was shortly thereafter given his first sight of the rest of the 'MON' team in a more casual setting. In the case of the one human among the group and what looked to be a small girl that was hiding behind a large hat even though it was evening it was his first time seeing them ever.

"Took ya long enough!" Zombina said with a large grin on her face as she slipped in through the door and leaned on Kimihito's shoulder. "Kimihito," She waved toward the rest of the group at the entryway. Starting with the large one, then to a tanned girl he had briefly seen at the store, then to the small girl and finally to the human. "Tio, Dopple, Manako, and Ms. Smith. Everyone, this is Kimihito."

"Ahh, this is the guy that's trying to restart our Zombina's heart?" Ms Smith said as she sized him up over the sunglasses she was wearing, at night. "Not too bad. Bit average looking though."

"I think they look adorable together." Tio said as she bent down to look through the doorway.

The tanned girl looked utterly uncaring about the human male. "Can we get to the food now? I'm hungry."

Meanwhile the girl with the hat only gave a barely hearable. "Nice to meet you." Before hiding behind Ms. Smith.

All in all Kimihito thought it was an okay first impression. "Nice to meet you all. Dinner's ready, so if you all come in, I'll show you to the table and we can get started in just a moment."

"Don't worry, I can show them to the table." Zombina said, then gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Just go and start bringing in food, before Dopple decides to go all Cthulhu horror on us."

"Heh, will do." Kimihito said with a grin and turned to head into the kitchen while he heard Zombina attempt to herd the others into the dining room. It seemed Tio was causing a blockage as she apparently squeed over the little scene there if the noises coming from the hallway were anything to go by. By the time he had gotten washed up a bit and started bringing out the food everyone had finally made it to the table, Tio had to drag the couch over but at least she wasn't breaking it so it was fine.

It seemed Zombina wasn't kidding about her friend though, because as soon as Kimihito set the first plate down he was nearly stabbed by Dopple's fork, apparently the girl hadn't ate recently or something given the way she was attacking the food before he could even get it all set up. Everyone else was quick to get in on it too as they tried to get their shares before it was all gone, and by the time he finally sat at the table he was practically taking the leftover scraps.

"Don't worry, saved you some extras." Zombina grinned at him as she saw his crestfallen face at the prospect of barely getting to eat. A moment later the zombie girl pushed a quarter of her overfilled and untouched plate onto his and gave him a wink. "Just don't let any of the others steal it from you okay?"

After that, everyone quietly tucked into their meals. Though as the piled high plates dwindled to nothing, the conversation began to restart. Mostly in the form of Ms Smith sending questions his way.

"So what do you do for a living?"

"Where do you go to school?"

"How do you afford a house this big?"

Easy enough questions to answer really. Then came one that was a bit harder.

"Aren't you a bit old to still be living with your parents?"

"Hey!" Kimihito shot back defensively, unable to let that one slide.. "I don't really live with my parents, given they haven't even been home in so long. Really it's like I own the house at this point. I just don't pay rent or taxes."

"So you live with your parents still." The coordinator said with a teasing smirk and Kimihito quickly stopped talking as he realized he would only dig himself a bigger hole.

The really awkward question though came from Tio, well not so much awkward as very embarrassing to answer in front of everyone.

"What made you end up falling for our little zombie?"

Kimihito had just been starting to stutter out his answer when Zombina clamped a hand over his mouth. "That's a bit too personal, Tio!"

"Aww, but I want to know! You two looked adorable at the door and I want to know how it happened!"

"Not a chance," Zombina said as she stood up from the table and struck a pose. "If you want to get that answer you at least got to take us out somewhere first!"

A small sigh came from Kimihito, not that it was heard by anyone. It seemed Zombina's urge to get free stuff extended to her interactions with her other friends too. Still he couldn't find the stance the dead girl had taken anything but adorable, given she was pointing a finger across the table and practically touching the ogre's nose.

"Fine." Tio said with a pout, and from there the conversation got less inquisitive. General tale telling taking over most of the night until eventually long after the table had been cleaned off, everyone started to leave, though for some reason Zombina was looking rather shy as only she and Ms Smith stayed behind while the rest of the girls went to put on their shoes.

For the second time that night Kimihito felt like he was being summed up in a few seconds by the long haired woman. Though while the last time she had been somewhat teasing, this time she seemed very serious. "Hmm, Kimihito? You seem good enough for Zombina here, but there's a big question hanging here that I don't know if you even know about."

Kimihito wracked his brain for a moment, before sparking onto what he thought might be what she was talking about. "You mean about Zombina potentially moving in in the future if this keeps up?"

"Not." Zombina said, her voice subdued and she poked her fingers together. "In the future, umm I was going to ask today but then everyone else jumped on when I told them I was going to do it. Would you mind?"

Kimihito's response was almost automatic, not even missing a beat. "Of course I wouldn't mind." He meant it, as while they had only been dating for nearly two months he had to admit he had never had as much fun as he had with the zombie girl.

"Good." Ms Smith cut back in, her tone still completely serious. "Then we'll send some documentation over and we can get you set up as an official homestay." Then the aura of seriousness around her dissipated in an instant and was replaced with teasing. "We'll even let Zombina stay here tonight. Though I don't want to hear you two got up to anything funny in the morning, you might be practically safe from legal trouble Zombina but it'd look bad if M.O.N. played fast and loose with the laws."

The blush from the implications nearly turned Kimihito bright red, and Zombina wouldn't be too far behind. It was the latter though that responded first. "Don't worry Kuroko, don't think we're that far along yet anyways."

"Heh. Well then, I'll see you and loverboy over there tomorrow." Smith smirked and left without further words, leaving the still luminescent Kimihito and the less so Zombina behind. A few moments later the door shut and the two were left alone.

"U-Umm. I have m-m-multiple rooms if you want one." Kimihito stuttered out, his courage failing him at the new dynamic.

It really wasn't helped when Zombina practically latched onto him. Her own teasing coming back at the sight of the rather stunned human. "Not a chance I'm missing out on the chance to sleep in a warm bed! Come on, upstairs with you!"

Ten minutes later, and the newly moved in couple were sleeping soundly in Kimihito's bed. Kimihito's slumber was never the better now that he had a girl to hold onto, and Zombina had the first sleep of her unlife where she actually felt like she was alive again. The warmth coming from Kimihito, through both their clothes and being trapped by the blanket, gently sent her to the best sleep she'd had in years.

* * *

 **A/N 2:** Thank you for reading to the bottom of the first chapter of this new story. If you feel like contributing to the continuation of this story, feel free to stop by my Profile and vote in the polls (one for 'Easy' to write arc's, one for 'Hard' to write ones) I have put up there for which girl shall be the focus of the next arc.


	2. Chapter 2: Living With Zombie Girl

**A/N:** Hello all! This came out way faster then expected, but I couldn't help myself and this got written up in about two days of insanity followed by a few days of editing. Anyways I'll save most of the stuff for the bottom of the story A/N so please enjoy the story! Hopefully the payoff is satisfying! As always, like, dislike, see something that could be improved? Leave a review!

 **Warning:** There is a Lemon present in this chapter, along with heavy doses of lime. The lemon is clearly marked, and if you do not wish to read it, skip down to the equally clearly marked lemon end line.

 **Disclaimer:** I still don't own DLWMG.

* * *

 **In Spite of a Nail Arc 1: Chapter 2: Living with Zombie Girl**

Life after moving in with Kimihito was a bit odd for Zombina, not that she would trade it away for anything. She knew he was a good cook and liked making food, but she hadn't expected him to be...domesticated, for lack of anything better to say. She could only guess he ended up this way because he had lived on his own for so long.

That wasn't to say her now live-in boyfriend was on the way to becoming house husband; if he was, she'd probably get bored pretty quick, to be honest. Kimihito just had been so used to running on a budget that he didn't seem up to changing his ways now that the household income was boosted by her own earnings.

Even with her comfortable income from her MON work meaning they could get him an upgrade, Kimihito insisted on still running his little junker rebuilding business out of the garage. He had sold off a few things he had been working on when they first started dating and was now repairing an old car that he was hoping to get a good chunk of money out of.

At the moment though, the thoughts of her human boyfriend fixing up that junker in the garage were rapidly fading into the back of Zombina's mind, mostly because she was too busy cuddling up on the couch with said human.

One thing Zombina had learned about herself after the move in was that she had turned into a cuddler. She couldn't help it! Kimihito was just so warm to wrap her arms around and it felt like she'd suddenly spring back to life if she stayed around him long enough.

For Kimihito's part, he certainly didn't seem mind the rather amorous hugs and cuddles he'd get as far as Zombina could tell. She tended to press herself in as much as possible in her search for even more warmth, and by the look of it, it took all of the human's willpower at times to not kiss his girlfriend. The thought of zombification was all that kept his impulses in check.

Zombina almost frowned at the thought, but managed to fend off the negative emotion fast enough that she thought Kimihito wouldn't notice. It was at her insistence that they didn't move beyond some petting and rubbing. She was rather certain her luck wouldn't be good enough for Kimihito to be one of those few people that was immune to zombification, and she was unsure if her saliva alone was enough to actually cause an incident but she didn't want to risk it.

At the very least she hadn't had the urge to bite him since she had met the human, she'd have been-

"Aaah..." Zombina's train of thought was thrown very far off the rails and she let out a pleased moan. Coming back to the world around her she saw, and could very much feel, Kimihito's finger trailing along the line of stitching just above her breasts. In the week or so they had been living together, her boyfriend had gotten very good at finding her sensitive spots, and the lines of stitches were some of the most sensitive on her body.

"You looked like you were getting down on yourself again." Kimihito said with a small frown of concern on his face. "I really don't mind, you know."

Zombina sighed, but she couldn't help but smile at Kimihito. "I know, it's just I worry you'll get bored with me. You know?"

"Heh, bored?" He smiled with a heartwarming skepticism. "My girlfriend is a gorgeous, invulnerable, somewhat scatterbrained-"

"Hey!"

"Special police force officer." Kimihito continued like Zombina hadn't just interrupted. "I really don't think any man could get bored with that."

"Hmph." Zombina pouted, and crossed her arm's over her chest, her head tilted as she tried to hide her blush.

Kimihito's face broke out into a grin. "Hey, if you're going to be like that I'm just going to have to do this."

His fingers went back to the seam, trailing along it and eliciting a shiver from the zombie girl. The pout remained still even with that.

"And this." His other hand slipped under the tanktop she was wearing and followed along her stomach. This time he got a moan out of the dead girl and the pout started to quaver.

A few more moments of that and the pout disappeared entirely, Zombina pressing back into Kimihito's chest and, not willing to let herself be the only one teased, wiggled her butt into his groin.

Unfortunately, just as one of the human's hands was starting to wander toward somewhere more intimate, the doorbell rang.

Neither of them wanted to answer it. That would mean leaving the bed and dropping their enjoyable little game. The two sat perfectly still for a moment, hoping that maybe if their seemed to be no life in the house then whoever it was would leave. After two minutes, it seemed to have worked, and both let out a happy sigh.

Then the doorbell rang again, and it was a tune familiar to Kimihito.

"God dammit, now of all times." Kimihito sighed, and Zombina realized he was going to have to take this and shifted off him. He stood up and groused. "Guess you'll get to meet my friends then, though I wish they'd give some damned warning before they showed up."

Zombina stood up too and followed her boyfriend toward the door. "Well, if you want I could probably scare them off."

"Nah, probably wouldn't work anyways. Paninya is persistent if nothing else." Kimihito said back over the continued ringing of the doorbell, which only stopped when he threw it open to reveal his three friends standing there waiting.

"Took ya long enough! I was starting to think you...didn't…" Paninya started strong, before she trailed off at the sight of Zombina. "Oh, this is the girl you were talking about! Heya," The tanned girl held out a hand to the zombie. "Nice to meet you, I'm Paninya."

Zombina took the hand just as eagerly, and her fangs showed up as she grinned. "Nice to meet you too."

The three males in the area felt a terrible shiver down their spines as they realized how bad having Zombina and Paninya in the same place could be. Though at least the tensions was somewhat lessened for Kimihito when the zombie girl continued.

"Though you think you could have called first!?"

Paninya, along with Keitaro and Kazuto both took notice of the two's state of dress then. Notably while nothing was missing, Zombina's tank top was noticeably ruffled, and Kimihito's clothes were much the same. Keitaro and Paninya at least had the decency to blush.

"Ahh," Kazuto said with a grin. "I think we were interrupting a bit of fun time, Paninya. Too bad. But since you two are already up, might as well let us in, right?"

Kimihito and Zombina both glared at the taller man, Keitaro also joined in though more with a 'not cool bro' look then the sheer terrifying looks Kazuto was getting from the couple. "H-Hey! Sorry I just wanted to make a joke!"

"Fine." Kimihito said with a sigh, while Zombina broke into a laugh at Kazuto's terrified face. "Luckily for you three I actually have something cooking."

As soon as the three got themselves inside, Paninya was dragging Zombina away from the men saying. "You guys stay away! We need to have a little friend to girlfriend talk!"

Kimihito would have helped his undead girlfriend, but he knew the potential wrath of the girl with the metallic arm, and so the only support Zombina got from him was an 'You're on your own, really sorry' look while she vanished with a bewildered expression.

A few moments later it was just Kimihito and his two friends left in the entrance hall. A palpable silence hung in the air for a minute, before a loud. "That's none of your business!" Rang out through the house.

"Well, looks like Paninya is already going for the questions about your sex life." Kazuto said with that smug grin back on his face. "Though I got to admit, I didn't think a zombiegirl was going to look that...alive, for lack of a better word."

"She seemed nice…" Keitaro chimed in. "How long have you two been dating?"

Kimihito sighed and started answering questions. "Well, she won't find much, we haven't really gone too far. It's a bit hard when one wrong bite can...you know." He waved his hand around in a circle for some reason he didn't know himself. "And we've been dating now for a few months, she only moved in last week though."

"Well sorry for dropping in unexpected." Kazuto patted Kimihito on the shoulder. "If we'd known you were having a bit of fun we'd have gone to a restaurant."

"Ehh, it's fine. Keitaro shows up rarely enough that I don't mind us all getting together whenever we can. How is the inn doing anyways?"

"It...could be better." Keitaro said with some hesitation, looking over his shoulder for some reason. "The repair bill seems to keep getting higher and higher."

"According to Paninya, almost all of that is cause Keitaro keeps getting punted through walls by either the Oni or one of the 'human' girls that lives there." Kazuto cut in.

Keitaro apparently wasn't going to let that go though. "They are just a bit excitable! It's not my fault that I keep getting in those situations."

"We might as well take this out of the entrance hall." Kimihito started to shove the two other men into his house. "They can't be taking up every other room in the house and I need to check on dinner anyways."

Dinner, thankfully, didn't take too much longer, but Paninya and a thoroughly harassed Zombina didn't return till he called out for everyone to get their food. The tanned girl threw Kimihito a thumbs up when she came into the kitchen. "You got yourself a real winner here, Kimi! Better not fuck it up!"

After that things moved fast. The five moving into the living room and the conversation began to flow. Everyone was curious about what Zombina did for a living, and she didn't hesitate to regale them with the more interesting stories she had. Much to Kimihito's embarrassment, the story at the doujin store came up and his friends were merciless on teasing him about being in the porn store.

"And that's when _this_ little sweetheart leaned over me while I played possum and asked," Zombina pulled her best impression of her boyfriend, " 'P-please don't be hurt, you dear delicate little angel.'"

"That is not what I said!"

"Go back to the part about his favourite monster girl!"

"I already told you I didn't join in with any of that!"

"Well who _is_ your favourite monster girl, then?"

"...Zombie girls, of course." As good an excuse to shift some embarrassment as it was to the blushing Zombina, Keitaro and Paninya let out a little aww.

After that, the conversation moved onto the equally embarrassing topic of their dating. At least this time Zombina was just as embarrassed as Kimihito was, and the questions were answered mostly with snapped remarks telling them it was none of their business from Zombina, and 'You have to be fucking kidding me' glares from Kimihito. The only person who got straight answers was Keitaro, just because he was too timid to ask anything too personal.

Eventually though the conversations just returned to general interests, a set of topics that only made the men in the room even more terrified as Zombina and Paninya kept discovering more things they shared in common. Pranks, guns, teasing, even certain games… They had had enough misadventures from Paninya's bids to squeeze enjoyment out of every last one of them. The thought of her having an accomplice was enough to have the three quivering in their boots.

Soon enough though, the night would start to go on and three would head home with a promise to call next time they were planning to show up, and Kazuto leaving a box of condoms. Not that they were needed in the first place but it was still enough to make both residents of the Kurusu household blush. The whole visit left the two very drained, and soon after the others left they were soon asleep, with any play before then being restrained by their fatigue.

"Promise me you won't help Paninya prank us, please."

A purposefully ambiguous mumble was the response from Zombina, leaving Kimihito with the stomach-turning mental image of what mischief the duo could achieve.

 ****ISoaN****

The next morning was a Sunday, and neither Kimihito or Zombina were exactly eager to leave the bed even as the sun shone through the window. In fact when Kimihito _had_ made an attempt to get out of bed at sometime around nine in the morning, Zombina had rolled on top of him and latched on with a vicegrip and kept him from escaping.

For lack of anything better to do, and the fact that he really should probably get out of bed and start on breakfast, Kimihito decided to pick up where he had left off last night. Wiggling one hand free of the zombie girl's grip, he started to tease the reachable skin of the back of her exposed back.

That was one thing that after the first night Zombina had more or less insisted on. It turned out she didn't sleep in clothes normally, and while she at least was wearing panties now, she still spent the entire night half nude. The result had nearly driven Kimihito into fatal shock on the second night when she had come out of the shower like that.

By now he had gotten mostly used to it, even if it did make sleeping a bit...difficult sometimes. It really didn't help when he occasionally woke up with his hand grasping one of the girl's firm mounds.

In a situation like this though, he almost wished her upper half was exposed and not pressed up against his t-shirt covered chest. At the very least a quick squeeze or a pinch would probably wake her up fast. Instead his teasing of her back only seemed to make her hug him tighter, the zombie girl latching on like a barnacle.

Resigning himself to being stuck for a while, Kimihito let his head fall back to the pillow and continued to draw slow circles over his girlfriend's back. The movements slowly started to rouse the dead, not exactly in the way Kimihito expected but he wasn't going to complain, when Zombina started to slowly rub against him in her sleep.

Slowly his hand started to wander more and more, and Zombina finally woke up and lifted herself off his chest. With bleary eyes she looked down at him. "Hmm," She yawned and rubbed against him deliberately. "So bold this early in the morning?" Another rub, this one very directed and drew a groan from Kimihito. "Well, maybe we can have some fun."

With her upper body now completely bared to Kimihito, he felt his eyes drawn to her pert and firm breasts, and his hands followed shortly after. While the stitches that crisscrossed Zombina were some of the more sensitive parts of her body, her breasts were just as responsive and as he squeezed and teased Zombina started to pant.

Then the phone rang.

The two paused for a moment and stared at the bedside phone for a few moments as it continued to ring and eventually, moved onto the voicemail. The two gave a relieved sigh as silence continued after.

Then the phone rang again, and again.

"Dammit! This better be good or I'm going to hurt someone." Zombina growled and picked the phone up without getting off Kimihito. "Kurusu household, Zombina here, who the hell are you?"

"..." The muffled response came.

"Dammit, why now! I wanted a day off." Zombina responded.

"..."

Zombina's frown lessened a bit. "Hmm, I can bring him along?"

"..."

"Well, at least that might make things less boring. Guess we'll be there."

"..."

Putting down the phone, Zombina let out a sigh. "Well, we got to go to some sort of meeting, and it starts in two hours."

There was a bit of hope in Kimihito's eyes that they might have enough time to continue what they were doing.

"It's an hour away, and we need some breakfast."

"Damn. Fine, you take the first shower, I'll start on breakfast."

 ****ISoaN****

As Kimihito cooked while Zombina was still in the shower, the phone rang again. Reaching out with a sigh Kimihito picked it up and brought it to his ear. "Kurusu household, who's this?"

The voice that came through the phone nearly blew out Kimihito's eardrums, both in its volume and its its terrible grasp of language. "Cici! I call for Zombina!"

Holding the phone a bit away from his head Kimihito responded. "She's in the shower at the moment, I can take a message though."

"Tell her that Cici comes! I arrive today! In an hour at docks! I will take her boyfriend for husband!" This 'Cici' said before the phone went dead, and left a rather put out Kimihito still holding a beeping line.

It was to that scene that Zombina arrived to in the kitchen. "Hey, you okay? Looks like someone told you you had ten minutes to live or something."

"Uhh," Kimihito slowly put the phone back on the cradle. "Do you know someone called Cici?"

"Oh god." Zombina's face fell into her hand. "What did she say?"

"Something about she was going to be here at the docks in an hour, and that she was coming to take your boyfriend as her husband." Kimihito's eyebrow raised especially at that last point. "Should I be worried?"

"Yes and no." Zombina sighed through her hands. "Cici's one of my few friends outside of MON, and also a habitual criminal. She keeps trying to sneak her way into Japan and after I caught her a few times we started hanging out before she'd get deported back to Taiwan."

The zombie pulled her head out of her hands. "Now though she calls me every time she is trying to break into the country. I mean it's fun to beat her and hanging out after is fun too, but it's annoying at times! She just shows up whenever, kinda like your friends really. But hey, at least we can skip out on that meeting."

"Okay then." Kimihito said with a shrug, if Zombina didn't want to go to the meeting he certainly wasn't going to try to fight for it. Anyways he wasn't going to leave Zombina to deal with some woman that was apparently coming here this time to come after him.

"Also, how did she actually know about me?"

"Well, I told her about you when I caught her a month ago." Zombina shrugged, and then opened up one of Kimihito's unused linen closets, that had apparently been turned into an armoury at some point without his knowledge.

"When did you do this?!"

"When you were down in your garage playing at being an autoshop."

Kimihito scratched the back of his head, maybe he shouldn't have his headphones in when he was working...

"Ever used a gun before? No wait. Of course you wouldn't have, this is Japan." She paused, before showing an alarmingly toothy grin. "Well might as well start you off with something you can't miss with."

Pulling a long pump shotgun from the closet, she handed it to Kimihito along with a large number of odd shells. "Don't worry, those shells are just loaded with rocksalt. Even if you somehow hit anyone, you won't hurt 'em. That thing's about as basic as you can get; point, pull the trigger, pump the action and you're good to go again."

Kimihito felt a little sweat on his hands over handling a gun for the first time in his life, but then nodded. "Okay." He already knew why rocksalt was what it was loaded with. The cookbooks he had bought said that salt paralyzed zombies, which had played havoc on his ability to store anything and budget, but he had managed it.

"Good! Now let's go!" Zombina was loaded down with two guns of her own, but she still dragged Kimihito to the garage.

 ****ISoaN****

While Kimihito may have been working on that scooter for a while, it seemed his real pride and joy was the motorcycle he had managed to get his hands on. Bright red, sleek curves with no exposed machinery and a bucket seat, the bike was an almost perfect replica of the one from Akira.

"There's my scooter. Do you like it?" Kimihito gestured to its majesty.

"I do, but...you call that a scooter?"

"Yeah, it gets me everywhere."

"But that's not a scooter. It's a motorbike."

"What?"

"A motorbike. I've driven a few before because they're perfect for tearing up the road. This thing's built for tearing up the road. It's a motorbike."

"I'm the mechanic here, I think I can tell a scooter from a motorbike."

"And _I'm_ the badass crime-fighting special agent!" Zombina grinned at her trump card, while her mechanically minded boyfriend scratched his head nervously.

"But, you can get around with it easily like a scooter, and it's from a lot of the parts that my old scooter had before…"

"It's a motorbike, you dolt, end of." Zombina playfully slapped the back of his head as he moved forward, before playfully pinching his rear from behind as a pick-me-up. "Now let's ride."

The bike was also a one seater, something that Kimihito was of mixed feelings about as he burned down the streets with Zombina sitting in his lap. On one hand he had a girl in his lap on a vibrating motorcycle, on the other hand he was trying to handle and steer a bike with someone sitting in his way.

Still he hadn't managed to get themselves or anyone else killed as they pulled into the harbour Zombina directed him to, so that was a win in his books. As he shut off the engine Zombina leaped off his lap and checked her phone. "Five minutes to the hour, nice driving Kimi!"

"Heh, well don't expect us to go as fast on the way back, I think I got white hairs from handling that." Kimihito said as he locked up his bike and took his shotgun from Zombina, he also discretely pulled out his sewing kit from the travel box. He had zero confidence in his shooting abilities, but he'd be damned if he wasn't at least going to help by patching his girlfriend up after god knows what happened.

Looking around the dockyard filled with shipping crates Kimihito asked. "So how will we know where she is here, this place is pretty big."

"Trust me, Cici is prone to making an entrance for herself, but if you see an envelope don't pick it up." Zombina's voice, indeed her whole posture was serious. The zombie girl had firmly gone into 'work mode.'

"Damn, Cici's trap foiled already." Came a disjointed voice from the crates, and a moment later a girl dressed in an outfit that looked straight out of an anime, jumped up onto one of the shipping containers and looked at the two. Unlike Zombina who could pass for human if it wasn't for the stitches, this girl was very obviously a monstergirl of some form. While she didn't seem to have any visible stitching, she had a purple hue to her skin that just screamed undead. "I will beat you still, Zombina! Then boyfriend will be my husband!"

"Yeah, that isn't going to happen." Both Zombina and Kimihito said simultaneously.

Cici seemed to smile at that for some reason. "Already like married couple you two are! Maybe we can just make it three way?"

"Still not happening!" Zombina growled and practically territorially barked at the other girl. "Anyways you just want to marry him so you can move here. How selfish is that!"

"Guilty as is charge!" She giggled callously. "And there is of nothing you can be doing about it." Cici suddenly took off from the crate, a pair of metal claws emerging from her sleeves. The move, and the illegal weapons, caught Zombina off guard.

Kimihito, on the other hand, panicked and pulled the trigger.

 **BAM!** The shotgun report echo'd through the harbour and while the shot was wide it still caused Cici to flinch and dodge away, missing her opportunity to hit Zombina.

"Thanks, bae!" The stitched up girl gave a thumbs-up as she grinned and pointed her two guns at the taiwanese zombie. "Now you're coming in, Cici!"

Gunshots rang out again, and Cici was quickly forced onto the back foot as Zombina took shots without mercy. It was only thanks to the other zombie girl's apparent flexibility that she was able to dodge out of the way of the fire.

"How did you get this flexible! Last time you were as stiff as a board." Zombina half shouted as she kept firing with the pair of auto shotguns.

Cici's grin grew. "I warm up this time! No stiff for Cici. Now you run out of ammo and I will into win!"

"How can a zombie warm up!?" Kimihito asked from behind the fighting pair.

Indeed, the taiwanese zombie was partially right, and a moment later both Zombina's guns clicked dry. "Well shit."

"I have you now!" Cici shouted with a grin and launched forward again, her body spinning like a top. She was just inches from Zombina when Kimihito pulled the trigger on his own gun again.

This time he didn't miss.

The shot caught the spinning Cici right in the torso, and her body locked up instantly. Unfortunately his shot had been slightly in favour of the side she had been spinning in, and the extra momentum just made her spin faster, followed by her crashing into the ground behind and to the side of Zombina.

"You have to be kidding me…" Zombina sighed, a moment before both her arms fell off. She seemed to be waiting for something else to happen, but after a moment she just 'shrugged' as best as her armless self could. "Well, I thought that was going to be worse. nice shot by the way. Though, a little help Kimi?"

Kimihito was already fishing out his sewing kit. "Don't worry, I've got you.. Say, shouldn't we tie her up or something?" He waved to the downed and still frozen Cici.

"Nah you got her pretty solidly, she should be stuck like that for a good while. More than enough time to patch me back up." Zombina sat down on her paralyzed friend, rocking her rear steadily back and forth. "Did you put on some weight, Cici? You seem more comfortable than last time."

"I take offense! I can not be of gain weight!" The taiwanese girl said from the ground. "Also boy got lucky, Cici should have won."

"A loss is a loss Cici, no being salty about it." Zombina said with a grin as Kimihito rounded up both her arms and started sewing.

"I pretty much did get lucky, though." Kimihito admitted as he slowly started to re-attach the missing limbs, taking secret joy in watching Zombina blush at the sensations. "Though, uhh, why did you pick claws of all things to use as a weapon Cici?"

Cici frowned. "Saw in game. Zombina brought gun to fistfight last time. Thought I'd get her back."

"I bring a gun to every fight." Zombina said with a fang exposing grin. "Except the ones in the bedroom."

Cici's frown turned to a similar grin to Zombina's at the topic change. "Human brings gun then, yes?"

"Oh ya, and it's a big one too!" Zombina continued as her grin grew even wider. "But you don't get to see it."

"Can you two not talk about that!" Kimihito cut in from his sewing, his face tomato red. "Uhm...thanks for the compliment?"

Zombina looked like she was on the verge of laughing, Cici on the other hand looked to be in serious thought for a moment. "Zombina, your boyfriend is still virgin?"

"N-N-No I'm not!" Kimihito's automatic, inadequate reply shot back immediately, and sent Zombina into a laughing fit that made stitching much more difficult. The man had to clamp down on Zombina's shoulder to keep her from rolling off Cici and tearing her stitching before it was done.

When Zombina's laughter stopped, her smile turned to a pout with frightening rapidity. "Only reason he still is is 'cause every time we get started something happens! Like you showing up!"

"Cici sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt fun times." The taiwan undead seemed oddly serious about that. "But was so boooored. Couldn't get good manga in Taiwan."

"You know you can always just _ask_ me to buy it for you right?" Zombina said with a sigh, that was a bit more heated than it would have been if Kimihito hadn't finished sewing on one arm and moved to the other. The human had decided to take his revenge a bit by lightly teasing Zombina out of the frozen Cici's view.

"But then we no see each other! Can Cici stay with you till they deport me tomorrow?"

Zombina looked like she really wanted to refuse, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, and she looked at Kimihito with almost begging eyes to get him to agree.

"Fine, she can stay in the guest room. Though uhh, no trying to force me to marry you or anything okay?"

"I won't! You two won so Cici will find someone else to scam later."

Silence hung over them for a bit.

"Shouldn't we tell MON about this?"

"A case like Cici is already as good as taken care of." Zombina shrugged.

 ****ISoaN****

That night it had taken some time to get Cici to calm down and go to bed. The jiang shi had been insistent on drinking the entirety of the formerly limited, recently expanded, and now non-existent alcohol storage in the house, and also on making sure everyone else had some as well. So by the time they finally did head to bed, everyone was rather sloshed.

"Heh, hope you're ready for some fun, Kimi. Nothing is going to get in our way this time." Zombina said with a grin as her and Kimihito stumbled into their room. The zombie girl insistently pushing her boyfriend toward the bed.

Kimihito chuckled. "Our luck has been really bad on that hasn't it."

Zombina was fighting herself to keep from stopping Kimihito from finishing that sentence with a kiss. They still hadn't found a way around the saliva problem and she refused to risk him getting zombified just to avoid potentially cursing their own luck.

Giving Kimihito a push that caused the human to sit on the bed, she quickly shrugged her tanktop off and threw it away. Her pants and panties followed a moment after and for what was actually the first time she was completely nude before the human. If it wasn't for the booze she might have felt somewhat embarrassed, but at the moment she was just feeling incredibly hungry, and not for food.

Even through the haze of alcohol, Zombina still had one worry. That now that she was fully bare before him Kimihito would find her disgusting, but the look Kimihito was giving her quickly threw those worries to the side.

"Now, how 'bout we start off from before we got interrupted." Zombina's voice was filled with sensuality as she leaned down into Kimihito's lap, pushing him back so she was straddling the human. She was just slipping one finger around the waistband of Kimihito's jeans when she suddenly felt someone pressing up against her back and a moment later Cici's face would come into her peripheral vision.

"This looks fun! Cici can join yes?"

 ****ISoaN****

"So...what happened to her?" Ms. Smith said as she took a sip of coffee while watching the girls load a very unconscious, and very badly beat up Cici into the back of a MON pattywagon.

Zombina had a frown of frustration on her face. "She tried to sneak into Japan again."

"I guessed that, she's usually conscious when you hand her over though." Smith's voice turned to teasing, and it seemed she knew exactly what had happened when she said. "Also you're looking a bit stressed, has your boy not been up to standards in bed?"

Zombina glared at her friend for a moment, before sighing. "Everytime we try, something seems to interrupt. Cici was just the most frustrating of those interruptions."

"Well, I have something for you on that front." Smith rooted around in her pockets for a moment before pulling out a pill bottle. "Here, this is a little something the scientists came up with. It's a temporary counter medication to zombiefication. If your boyfriend there has one of these, you can do whatever you want and he'll be safe for two days, one if you want to be really safe."

Zombina's eyes tracked onto the bottle like it was the only bit of water and she had just walked through the desert. Smith took some advantage of that to tease her friend some more, waving the bottle left and right and watching the zombie girl follow its movements. Then she handed it over and Zombina looked like a kid that just got the best christmas present ever.

"Oh, also, since you weren't at the meeting. The marriage law got amended. You and Kimihito here are a potential test case since you're 'responsible.'" Smith gave her teammate a wink. "So whenever you two are ready for that, feel free to come to me and I'll get it all set up."

Zombina nodded. She wasn't going to tell Kimihito about that yet, if only because she was fairly sure the human might freak out a bit if she brought it up right now; she used to be human, after all, so she knew how much more willing monstergirls were to speed along relations then normal people were.

But with this wonderful promise, well, even if it took welding every door shut, she would not be interrupted again!

"Well, I'm going to go test this out then. Hope you don't mind me leaving Cici to you girls!" Zombina said as she practically bounced back to the house.

Smith laughed and waved Zombina off. "Don't worry, we got it from here."

 ****ISoaN** **LEMON WARNING, SKIP TO NEXT BOLD IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ****

Kimihito was in the middle of being both sexually frustrated and normally frustrated as he got himself some water and food to deal with his slight hangover. He was getting just as pissed off as Zombina was when it came to the seemingly endless interruptions.

What he wasn't expecting, and what wasn't helpful to his mild headache, was the door practically getting kicked off its hinges by his undead girlfriend.

"Take one of these, right now!" Zombina said as she practically thrust a bottle of pills into his grip.

Kimihito took a moment to react, and when he did it was to lift the bottle to his eyes. "Zeedionin? What's this."

"It'll protect you from any potential zombiefication incident for a day." Zombina said, her eyes filled with _demand_ for him to take one of those pills immediately.

Hell, Kimihito didn't need to be told twice. He was also fairly sure even if he wasn't just as pent up as his girlfriend, she'd not take no for an answer anyways at the moment.

One pill and a shot of water later, and Kimihito found himself pulled into a deep kiss. The two had both been anticipating this since not long after they started dating, and neither were disappointed. No longer did they need to imagine it.

For someone whose breasts were so firm, Zombina's lips were incredibly soft. It was like kissing velvet or silk and he couldn't imagine something better for his first true kiss.

For Zombina on the other hand, it was not her first kiss, but it was the first since she had turned. While Kimihito was definitely not the most experienced or skilled, she could care less. Years of forgetting the sensation, and her monster blood, drove her wild, deepening the kiss without a second thought, driving into the human's mouth and beginning a war of tongues.

The force of the kiss drove the two toward the living room, thanks in part to some steering from both involved parties. They collapsed onto the couch, with Zombina ending up on the bottom for once. As both heavily flushed beings separated for Kimihito to draw air, Zombina grinned. "Hmmm, I don't mind this, though guess you'll have to get me undressed this time."

"You act like that's a bad thing." Kimihito said with a grin, and slipped one hand underneath Zombina's tanktop. With deliberate slowness he lifted the shift enough to expose her firm mounds and promptly leaned down to give a short, testing, lick to both of the pert nipples he had exposed.

With a wiggle and a small moan she wasn't able to suppress, Zombina gave him a toothy grin around her blush. "Haaah, guess those hentai mags you got at least gave you some tips."

Kimihito responded with another flick of his tongue, emboldened by the apparent success, and drawing another slightly louder moan from the girl beneath him. His hand trailed along her stitching until it reached the belt of her shorts, and without delay he had those unbuttoned and sliding down. "Guess I got lucky. Though that was pretty obvious when I managed to get you to be my girlfriend." Kimihito's voice was tinged with nervousness, his attempt at smooth talking managing to draw a small laugh from his panty clad lover.

"Don't quit your day job casanova." Zombina's grin grew, and she added. "Also, you are wearing entirely too much clothing. Let me help with that..."

Zombina's definition of 'help' was to rip the fabric off him as fast as possible. With the strength her monster body gave her, she tore his top off with a single pull, his pants following only a moment later.

"Well, good thing I didn't care for those..." Kimihito muttered as he looked at the ruined garments, before turning back to his blushing zombie. Cautiously, he lowered her panties, exposing her sex. Even he, with his impressive repertoire of porographic doujin, was surprised by how it glistened. Smith had snuck some 'educational material' from her apparent uncle to him, and it had mentioned that for reasons unknown, while zombies couldn't have kids, the zombie virus didn't damage the reproductive organs of whoever it infected. Even the old zombies remained much more intact down there then they did anywhere else.

Not that anything so esoteric was on his mind at _this_ precise moment.

His own boxer soon went the way of his other clothes as Zombina got her grip on them, revealing his erect, above average, manhood. "Heh, I really know how to pick them." He had to stop and blush at that before the Limnial's hungry voice snapped him back to reality. "Now...no more delaying! Give me everything!"

Kimihito didn't need to be told twice, and pushed past her moist, feminine petals, all the way to his hilt, in a single, fluid movement. He worried for a moment he might have been too rough, but the moan it elicited from Zombina, along with the indescribably strange, yet pleasant feeling of his virginity leaving him, flushed such worries from his mind.

Unfortunately, his very recently no-longer-former-virgin status did not confer him an abundance of stamina. He pulled nearly all the way out of Zombina, and began to set what he hoped was a good pace, when he already felt himself about to hit his edge. Zombina noticed it in his movements too, and through her blush and her own arousal she managed a surprisingly breathy. "Don't...worry about it...we'll have lots more times for this."

Kimihito still tried with all his might to hold back, but it was very much a lost cause, and with a groan he buried himself as deep as he could go a moment before climax wracked his body.

For Zombina, even if she was nowhere near her own satisfied, she couldn't help but let out an orgasmic moan of her own as she felt the heat of Kimihito's seed flow inside her. Her body reacted to 'life' and there was nothing that sent her body into heat more than the warmth in her womb now.

Soon enough the flow stopped though, and Kimihito slumped onto her with his head buried between her breasts. Between panted breaths, he muttered. "That felt...amazing. Sorry I didn't... last very long."

Zombina's grin grew feral, and with a deft movement Kimihito was the one on the bottom now. "Ohh don't worry, we'll just have to make up for for it with quantity."

Kimihito gulped, he was probably going to be feeling this in the morning…

 ****ISoaN** **LEMON HAS ENDED****

When Zombina woke up the next morning, it was after the best sleep she'd had in years. Her body felt so absolutely positively _amazing_ and she could still feel the heat from the last nights long tryst inside her. She was almost certain she was alive again for a few moments as she stirred herself to full consciousness. Obviously she hadn't made a sudden recovery to the land of the living, but she certainly wasn't going to complain about what happened.

Kimihito hadn't had the most stamina, being a virgin not two days ago did that to you, but he made up for it with determination if nothing else. He had lasted a surprising number of rounds, and even managed to bring her to orgasm before he had conked out with Zombina not that far behind.

Now they were both laying nude on the couch, Zombina resting on top of her surprisingly comfortable boyfriend. Looking at him in his sleep she couldn't help but imagine them years from now. It wasn't like she was going anywhere fast, and maybe one day they'd decide he wanted to become a zombie too, then they could be together for as long as they kept themselves preserved. He'd probably want kids first though, she knew she had always wanted kids before she had become a zombie.

That thought quickly brought deep frown to her face, that was the one thing she couldn't give Kimihito, no matter how much she wanted to. Unfortunately it seemed Kimihito hadn't been as asleep as she had expected either, as his eyes opened and his hand went to her back. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just…" Zombina thought for a moment to lie to him, but something about the concern in his eyes kept him from doing that. "Worried…"

"About?"

"Well...I can't have kids...Are you sure you are fine with that?" Zombina's voice had a mild hint of panic now, worry that Kimihito might turn her down.

Instead he just leaned forward and kissed her, when he came back for air he said. "If I wasn't fine with it, I would have brought it up a while ago. Ms Smith gave me some books that told me about everything."

"So that's why you weren't surprised...Well, I guess I'll have to thank her next time I see her." Zombina's frown turned to a large grin, and Kimihito wouldn't be leaving that couch for a good hour or two more.

 ****ISoaN****

Two months later, Zombina was visiting Kimihito in the hospital.

Anyone who recognised there was a zombie in the hospital started asking questions in their panic. The staff held on her every word, prepared to call for emergency support to try and save whoever she had zombified. But she had only touched one person, one person very dear to her heart - her boyfriend, a young man named Kimihito. She just wanted to see him again.

Reluctantly, they would check the man's room as well as his medical dossier, to see what he was in for. He had been visited by numerous nurses and doctors in his time here, as well as some visits by personal friends of his. Fearful of a tragedy, the listening staff looked at the condition the dossier described Kimihito as having. And it defied their dramatic expectations.

' _Bruised pelvis.'_

Now it made sense to them why the zombie girl was blushing and fidgeting with embarrassment.

Their gigglefit knew no end.

They pointed her on her way to Kimihito's room, as best they could between their fits, and when she went on their way they stopped trying to hold it in any longer, still giggling even as the next utterly confused person came for their attention.

Zombina awkwardly carried on, looking around her and fidgeting her fingers as the occasional repressed chortle exposed who in the hospital knew why they had a zombie girl in that day. The redhead had been visiting for weeks now while he recovered, and more and more staff began recognising her. After all, bringing your boyfriend to the hospital for 'bruised pelvis' was a very embarrassing thing to do!

It wasn't her fault! Okay, it was entirely her fault, but she had just gotten so into 'it' that she hadn't been able to slow herself down. It was still Kimihito's fault for being so willing to be the bottom! After this though she wondered if she'd have to get him to take charge more.

Either way, Kimihito had been in the hospital for nearly a week and a half now. The doctors had decided that they might as well run a bunch of tests to see how the anti-zombie medication was affecting him. He said the tests weren't really a problem, but he spent most of the day bored, and Zombina could only show up after her shift ended on any given day.

She'd almost say it was surprising to come into Kimihito's room and see him talking with a bunch of kids that were at his bedside, but it wasn't really. He had taken to killing his spare time by playing with the kids from the children's ward. Though there were only three of the kids there today, usually there was a fourth, but the usually morose girl called Yuuhi that tended to disappear as soon as she showed up was nowhere to be seen.

Standing at the door to the room, her boyfriend having not noticed her yet, Zombina would soon find where the missing girl was as she felt a small tug at her jacket.

Turning to look at the strawberry blond girl, Zombina almost bounced back in a bit of fright at the odd stare the pre-pubescent girl was giving her. It wasn't that it was unusual for the girl Zombina had met occasionally, but this was the first time it had both caught her off guard and been nearly right in her face.

"Can we talk?" The girl said, her grip surprisingly strong on Zombina's jacket for a girl that looked like a stiff breeze would knock her over.

Checking inside to see that Kimihito was still thoroughly distracted playing some DS games with the assembled kids, Zombina shrugged. "Sure, lead the way kid."

Yuuhi would lead Zombina through the halls till they were in the hospital's courtyard, the trees and park benches giving patients a nice place to spend their days as they recovered. The girl would seat herself on one of the benches and Zombina would take the spot beside her.

"So, what did you want to talk about kid?" Zombina said to the stoic girl beside her.

It took Yuuhi a moment to respond, seemingly collecting her thoughts. "What was dying like, Ms Zombina?"

Zombina was thrown for a loop for the second time in just a few moments. She pulled her senses together though, and since it was no secret to the kids that she was a zombie she said "Well...I don't really remember much of it. I had was a latent carrier for the zombie virus, so when a police bust went wrong the next thing I remember was waking up in the morgue. Why are you curious?" Zombina already had an idea why this girl was asking her this question, but she had to make sure.

"I...I don't think I have much time left Ms Zombina." The girl's body shivered as tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. "I...I can feel myself getting weaker…" Yuuhi was now openly sobbing, and clung onto Zombina's side. "I'm so scared…"

Zombina couldn't help herself, wrapping her arms around Yuuhi. "Hey, don't worry. I've met some spirits, they say the afterlife isn't anything to worry about."

"B-But...I have so much I want to do…" The girls tears were now tinged with frustration. "Not...not that I could do anything...e-e-even if I wasn't going to die."

"What about your parents?" Again Zombina had a feeling she knew what was going to be said, and she hugged the crying girl even tighter.

"T-They're gone...They just stopped coming years ago…"

Even if they weren't dead, the girl in her arms was as good as an orphan. It put a thought into Zombina's mind, a thought that almost caused her to gag but she managed to hold it down as she continued to comfort the crying girl.

Here was someone that was going to die, a girl even younger than herself when she passed away, and she could do something about it. But doing so would be giving someone else the same blessing and curse she herself suffered from. Immortality, but always having to control yourself, having to make sure you didn't accidently infect anyone, having to live with the cold that came with the unliving.

"Hey." In the end it really wasn't a choice though. "Yuuhi, I could...give you something that might help."

The girl stopped crying for a moment and stared up at Zombina. "W-What is it?"

"Don't freak out for a moment okay?" Zombina reached into her jaw and grabbed one of her looser teeth, yanking it with one hard pull that caused it to come out. Yuuhi surprisingly enough remained calm even as Zombina handed the tooth to her. "If you really _really_ don't want to die. Just grip this hard, enough to pierce your skin."

Zombina made sure she didn't do it now though, as her face went serious. "But please, before you potentially do this, think it through okay? You...won't be human if you do. You would be-"

"I'll be like you, right, Ms Zombina?" Yuuhi's eyes were drying now, and when Zombina nodded the young girl tucked the tooth into her one pocket. "Okay, I'll think it over. Thank you Ms Zombina." She gave Zombina one more hug, this one much more friendly then out of a need for comfort, then she stood up and started to head back toward the hospital.

Still on the bench, Zombina managed to say before Yuuhi could get too far away to hear. "Hey kid...if you end up going through with it...Kimi and I will try to look into taking you in. You'll be my responsibility afterall."

Yuuhi came back and hugged Zombina again. "Thank you Ms Zombina! Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow!"

In a much better mood now, Yuuhi headed back to the hospital with a very weak skip in her step. It took Zombina a few minutes of convincing herself what she did was the right thing to do before she got up and headed in to get some...comfort...from her boyfriend. Thank god for single patient rooms.

 ****ISoaN****

Zombina was freaking out, very badly.

"Zombina calm down. If you keep pacing like that you'll end up tearing your dress!" Tio said as she reached out and forcefully stopped Zombina by pulling her into a hug.

The redheaded zombie was still freaking out though. "But there's so many things that can go wrong! How can I keep calm!?"

"Tio's right." A quiet voice came from Manako. "We've planned everything out, and planned for every potential breakdown. It'll go perfectly though. I just wish I didn't have to wear this…"

"It's just a wedding, what are you even freaking out about." Dopple said disinterestedly from the corner of the room. "And why do I have to wear this, it's not like I couldn't just make some clothes for myself."

Much to Zombina's chagrin, not that she'd admit it, the day had finally come. A bit more than a year after they had started dating, Kimihito and Zombina were finally taking the last step to married life.

"Don't worry mommy, you look great!" Came the cheerful voice of Yuuhi. The now somewhat paler girl was more lively than ever, and had taken to the Kurusu residence like a fish to water.

The day after Zombina had handed the girl one of her teeth, she had come back to visit her still hospitalized boyfriend. There she found a very peppy Yuuhi sitting on Kimihito's stomach waiting for her. Kimihito had been very confused when the girl had shown up in his room and started calling him papa, but he had rolled with it as he was prone to doing; figuring someone would give him an explanation eventually.

When Zombina had checked Yuuhi for a pulse, or any other sign of life, she hadn't found it and she had confirmation of the choice the girl made. Explaining it to Kimihito had been easier than she thought it was going to be, he had no hard feelings about her making the offer to the young girl without telling him. Indeed he had given Zombina a rather tight hug and told her he had thought she made the right choice.

Later that day when she was explaining it to Ms. Smith, it was a fair bit less easy. Still in the end Smith had decided to just give her a for show punishment more than anything with a two day 'house arrest' at Kimihito's. She had then proceeded to help push through the adoption papers for Yuuhi and a month later the young zombie moved in with them.

Her memories were interrupted when Smith came into the ready room. "Okay, we're all good to go. You ready Zombina?"

Zombina swallowed down all her worries and nodded. "Yeah, let's go! I don't want to leave Kimi standing there for too long do I?"

Heading out of the room, Zombina would remember that for all her worries, this day would go off without a hitch, and would just be the start of her long, long life together with her new husband.

* * *

 **A/N 2:** Well I have said before that I was planning to do 3 chapters for Zombina's arc, two main ones and one short epilogue. When I finished this I felt that the epilogue would potentially hinder the story more then it would help. What do you all think? Regardless of whether I decide to do an epilogue or not, expect a short chapter to show up here sometime between the 25th and 27th of April. This will either be the epilogue, or it will be a mini prelude/trailer for the next arc. Either way when that chapter goes up I will be closing the current poll so get your votes in before then!

At the moment of this A/N being written, Rachnera has taken the lead with 27% of the vote and Mero and Papi's Mom are tied for second at 13% each. Then a number of girls at 9% and then the remaining. If you want your girl to win get voting now while there is still time! The gap in votes is still short (5 at its worst) so every vote can and will count! Also the girls that end up coming in second and third (or if there is a tie for second, 2 of the girls in the tie) will be carried over to the poll for arc 3. Everyone else will be randomized.


	3. Chapter 3: Family Life with Zombie Girls

**A/N:** I'm here with a new chapter! One day early. I decided to make a epilogue for the Zombina arc instead of a preview of the Rachnera arc. Hope it turns out to be up to the quality of the last two chapters even if it is only about half the size of the last one. Mostly this just serves to put to paper a few floating scenes I had kicking around (and to flesh out the wedding a bit.)

Also I want to thank my two editors (neither of which are on ) Sammieo and The Ambiguous Briton. They have helped me turn this arc from a literary mess into something worth reading. As always, like the chapter, hate the chapter, see something that needs improving, or just want to leave your thoughts about this arc or potential future ones? Leave a review! (Also thanks to everyone who has left a review for the last two chapters, you're feedback is greatly appreciated!)

 **Disclaimer:** Still don't own DLWMG. Also check the second A/N for notes about the polls.

* * *

Kimihito felt like a penguin, one that was fidgeting nervously on the spot. Standing at the altar would do that to a man; this was the ceremony where he'd be bound to the woman he loved.

It didn't calm him down to remind himself that this was only a ceremony. The official paperwork had been filed days before, and while the church they were in was set up like a catholic one on Zombina's insistance, the 'minister' was actually a man from M.O.N. they could get who most closely resembled the stereotypical priest. The major religions had a hard enough time doing a ceremony for a liminal and a human marriage as it was, and doing one for the undead was right out of the question. But Zombina had yearned for the real thing like her friends had when she was alive, and Kimihito wanted as close to the real deal as he could possibly get her.

That thought bearing down just made this even more nerve wracking. Kimihito, and his best man Keitaro, had to stand waiting in front of an audience comprised of both Kimihito's friends and his friends' friends, all the residents at Keitaro's dorm, and Zombina's friends. At least the ones that hadn't been given a chance to be involved in the ceremony like the M.O.N. girls had. Among them was Cici, who much to Kimihito's entertainment, was being talked up by an oblivious Kazuto. He wondered if they'd have to attend a wedding again in a short while, though that one might be a bit less cordial than his own.

Only one set of the parents of the two to be wed were there, and those were Zombina's. The rehearsal had been the first time Kimihito had actually met his two elderly in-laws. The two had gushed over how he was finally going to make a proper woman of their daughter and how adorable Yuuhi was. He felt the responsibility he had to them, but was relieved that they approved.

Kimihito's parents, on the other hand were not in attendance. Their boy hadn't sent them just the wedding invitations, he'd sent them texts, phone calls, answering machine messages and email upon email for them - he never got one reply. The thought brought a frown to Kimihito's face. He'd wanted this to be the day when the two of them would finally show a paternal bone in their bodies. He knew better; he'd expected them to do this. But still.

He didn't get a chance to stew on his parent's absence for long though, his train of thought stuttering as the wedding march started. Nervousness filled him again as he made a few last attempts to make his rented suit fit properly.

Then Kimihito's train of thought was completely thrown off the rails when the doors opened and Zombina soon walked in. His wife to be's dress was a truly hideous orange-yellow, the same colour of her M.O.N. armour, but to him it only made the shy smile on her face all the brighter. The look in her eyes, and those in the eyes of her bridesmaids, made it obvious that she knew how blinding the colour was but she couldn't care less.

The entire way down the aisle, Kimihito's eyes were wide and full of nothing but the vision of beauty coming toward him. By the time she ended up across from him before the 'minister,' Kimihito's brain was fully in autopilot. The actual brain was too busy getting lost in his zombie's lively eyes, eyes he had fallen in love with long ago.

It was only as the vows came to the end that his higher brain functions returned, just in time to hear.

"Do you, Kimihito Kurusu, take Zombina Shimizu as your wife? To live together in marriage, through sickness and health, for richer or poorer, for as long as you both shall remain?"

Kimihito was never more sure about two words. "I do."

"Do you, Zombina Shimizu, take Kimihito Kurusu as your husband? To live together in marriage, through sickness and health, for richer or poorer, for as long as you both shall remain?"

"I do." Zombina's eyes were damp, practically sparkling with joy.

"Then I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." The 'minister' had a grin on his face as he gave the two the go ahead.

The newly christened Kurusus launched into a deep, loving kiss. Passionate enough that the 'minister', along just about everyone present, started to blush and shift awkwardly. The only person who didn't seem to feel embarrassed at the scene was Ms. Smith, a camera materializing in her hand to take a picture of the kissing couple. In the process she also managed to capture a rather hilarious scene of a furiously blushing Manako trying to cover Yuuhi's eyes.

Unfortunately for the government agent, Dopple stepped in before she could get another picture, pulling the newlyweds apart with ease. "Jeez, you two are in public you know!"

"Heh, you're just jealous." Zombina said teasingly to her dark skinned friend, and even managing to get a blush from the usually apathetic doppleganger. Pulling back from Kimihito she still held him by the hand as she pointed to the church's doors. "Now, to the reception!"

 ****ISoaN****

The reception was held at a nearby hotel, and no one who had been at the wedding missed it. Not just because the government workers were all happy to get the most they possibly could out of a government subsidised party, though that was certainly a factor. Mostly it was because if there was one thing Zombina could manage, it was throwing a party.

She probably shouldn't have left Cici in charge of the signage though, 'Chips from the powdered onion' was technically correct but it did not make for easy deciphering. Still the taiwanese girl had been desperate to have some part to play in the wedding and this was the place where she could do the least damage.

"Cici so happy for two you! Look much happy together!" The jiang shi practically jumped as she clung onto Kazuto's arm. "Cici bring gift! It marriageable aids!"

Luckily Cici had put the blush-inducing present somewhere in the pile so the two didn't have to deal with her handing them thinly veiled porn in the middle of a party, but it didn't stop the slow and creeping blush they shared as Cici elaborated.

Kazuto's congratulations was much more subdued compared to the hopping, illegal alien, instead merely clapping Kimihito on the shoulder. "I don't think they'll need it. If that show you put on at the wedding is anything to go by anyway, you two are pretty…" He gave a semi-perverted grin. "Compatible."

"Yeah, that's… Definitely not a problem." Kimihito actually managed to say back without breaking into an embarrassed stutter, though the red stayed.

The other guests had similarly coloured 'congratulations'. Manako was barely able to be in the two's presence without fainting from a blood rush, her memory vividly revisiting their makeout. Tio had pulled them both into a near bone-crushing hug, and Dopple had scoffed at the idea of marrying a human and flicked Kimihito's forehead. "You hurt our dear Zombina and I will make you suffer. Got it?"

The flick hurt a surprising lot for how light it had looked. "Even if I ever would, I can think of a certain sweetheart who'd beat you to the punch." Kimihito pulled Zombina into a one armed hug, and lightly teased her side through her dress.

Zombina kept herself to a frisky smile until the rest of the squad left to rejoin the party and they were alone, at which point she'd start to tease Kimihito back, pressing herself against him and rubbing her breasts against him when no one was paying attention.

The teasing war would escalate quickly, much to the interest of the few people who did notice. The two were about to try to slip out of the party for some private time, when a certain strawberry blonde zombie tiredly stumbled against Zombina's and asked with a large yawn. "Mommy can we please go home? I'm really tired."

The two adults looked at each other, then shrugged. It wasn't like what they wanted to do couldn't be done just as easily at home. Picking Yuuhi up by the armpits and holding her in a hug, Zombina patted her on the head. "I guess we can. Don't think anyone is really going to miss us here after all."

Driving with a child on a motorbike wasn't great, and driving one with three people on a single seater was the epitome of bad ideas, so shortly after they adopted Yuuhi, Kimihito had invested in a car so the three of them would be able to go for a ride and bring their daughter home when they had to go anywhere without having to worry about any accidents. Or at least, _he_ wouldn't have to worry about it.

The small sedan would get them home quickly, but nowhere near quick enough for the two in the front seat.

"Mommy, Daddy, why is it so hot in here? The air conditioning is on…" Yuuhi asked from the back, unaware of the sexual tension that was near literally affecting the air around her adopted parents. "And both of you are so red! Oooh no did you both get sick?"

"No no, dear." Kimihito used all his willpower to keep his voice steady and keep his eyes on the road and not gazing at the voluptuous woman in the seat beside him. "Well maybe a bit. We'll be heading right to bed after we get you all tucked in."

"Yeah, don't worry about us." Zombina turned back and gave her toothy grin to Yuuhi. "We'll be fine by the morning, though you might want to cover yourself with your pillows. I heard it's going to get windy tonight."

"Okay! If it gets really windy, can I come in with you?" Yuuhi's voice was innocent.

Zombina's smile turned to a neutral line. As much as she wanted to say no to hopefully increase their odds of getting through the night undisturbed, her newly awakened maternal instincts kicked in. "But then you might get sick, but yes, if it really does get too loud you can come in with us, just please knock first okay?"

Yuuhi nodded and leaned back in her seat, though they were pretty much at the house as it was. Pulling into the garage and letting Zombina handle getting Yuuhi all ready for bed, Kimihito instead went to go take a little concoction he had come across, which let him keep up with his amorous wife.

Good thing too he found out about it too, because he really needed it that night. The bed ended up having to get replaced after the frame broke, but he managed to avoid a hospital stay this time!

 ****ISoaN****

"Okay, so you add the two to the nine, then you add the five to the six, then you add the two to the two, and you should get 411." Kimihito said as he tried to direct his daughter through her make up school work.

Yuuhi flipped a few pages deeper into the book. "Uhh, it says it should be 521 daddy."

Kimihito groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What did I screw up…"

"Daddy I think we were supposed to carry the ones over."

Kimihito palmed his head. "Right...Okay then it's 521. What's the next question."

"Kimi, I really think you should leave getting Yuuhi caught up to Manako, she should be getting here any minute now." Zombina said as she passed the table, stopping to look at the atrocity that was Kimihito's attempts at helping. "We don't need you catching on fire trying to overthink, you know?"

"Hey! I'm not that bad." Kimihito tried to defend himself. "I'm just out of practice."

Zombina leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry about it you lug, we love you all the same even if you can hardly handle grade six math."

"Yeah! Don't worry daddy, we still love you!" Yuuhi glomped onto Kimihito's arm and nodded.

Kimihito was saved from having to further admit his idiocy when the doorbell rang. "Well that'll be Manako, I'll go get it since I'm obviously not much use around here." Even if he sounded put out, the smile on his face showed he very much didn't mind the teasing.

Since they had adopted Yuuhi, they had been trying to get her back up to speed on the years of schooling she had missed due to her illness, and it had quickly proved a task well beyond Kimihito's ability, and Zombina's available time off of work.

The solution had been to call in help, which was in the form of the diminutive monoeye that was currently standing on his doorstep. "Come on in, Manako, I was just trying to help her with the homework you assigned."

"I thought I asked you to stop doing that." Manako said without even a blush or flinch, if there was one thing about giving her the job, she had grown much more comfortable in the Kurusu household, at least when it came to talking about anything related to teaching. Going off topic or teasing her put her right back to normal in no time.

Kimihito scratched the back of his head. "Aw come on, am I really that bad?"

"Yes, yes you are." Came the monotone from the monoeye as she stepped past Kimihito and into the house. "Hopefully you will have not ended up turning back what progress we've made."

"Come on Manako, don't be so harsh on him!" Zombina chimed in as Manako stepped into the living room. "That's my job."

"Hiya Ms. Manako! I got almost everything you assigned done!" Yuuhi held up a bunch of sheets of paper. "Though daddy kept trying to help."

"Good work. That will make today's lesson easier."

When the two started to discuss the day's lesson plan, Zombina latched onto Kimihito. "Well there hubby, I guess we should head out, we have a few more schools to hit this week."

"Yeah I'll go warm up the bike, though I still think we can stop this little search, I think Tokiwadai Middle School would be perfect."

Zombina just shooed Kimihito into the garage. "I know but I still think there is something off about that place. If we can't find anything today though we'll stick with it."

A few minutes later, the two were off for a very unsuccessful day of school hunting. It was surprisingly hard to find a school in Japan that was willing to take in a child that had missed so much time, not to mention a zombie. Half the schools took one look at Zombina, a quick glance at Yuuhi's transcript, and immediately booted them out the door.

But hey, at least they got to turn it into a short date after, leaving a poor Manako to deal with a hungry Yuuhi after their lessons came to an end.

 ****ISoaN****

It wasn't even a year later when Kimihito took the final step in his relation with Zombina, the step even past their marriage. Indeed it was the same day that Yuuhi finally rejoined the school system.

"Okay, uniform, backpack, you have your notebook and everything right?" Kimihito said as he and Zombina fussed over the younger zombie.

"I've got everything daddy!" Yuuhi said with a slight huff, her arms crossed and her cheeks puffed out. "At this rate I'll be late for the bus!"

Zombina gave a half grin and pulled her husband away from their adopted daughter. "Right right, we just want to make sure it's going to go well for you you know?"

"Yes mom, but we really need to get going!" Yuuhi insisted, and grabbed both her parents by the hands and started to drag them. A relatively easy task all considering given that Zombina didn't put up any resistance and Kimihito wasn't strong enough to keep his feet firmly grounded, let alone slow her down.

The neighbours just watched as two parents were dragged like waving flags behind their daughter toward the end of the street. The ride only stopped when they made it to the bus stop, the school bus still a block or two away.

Kimihito was still recovering from the impromptu half flight, so it was on Zombina to send Yuuhi off. She bent down a little and rubbed her head. "Now you be good ya hear? Don't do anything that'll get us called down there and remember not to share drinks or anything with anyone."

Yuuhi nodded, and the bus pulled up. Darting over to the opening gate the strawberry blond waved at her parents. "Seeya after school! Love you!"

"Have fun!" The two older Kurusus responded, and with that the bus doors closed, though the young zombie still waved at them through the window till the bus turned the corner and went out of sight.

Kimihito sighed, "I hope she'll be okay."

"She's a zombie." Zombina waved it off. "Half the kids on the bus are probably already trying to be her friend just 'cause of how cool being a zombie is."

Kimihito chuckled at his wife's words. At the very least Yuuhi wouldn't be the only liminal going to the school, as Tokiwadai proudly boasted that it was taking in a whole slew of young liminals this year, one of the first schools in the city to do so. So their girl would have some people to get to know right off the bat.

The two couldn't just stand at the bus stop till their daughter came back though, even if they almost wanted to. With a bit of reluctance the pair turned away and headed back to their house, taking it at a much more leisurely pace as the warm day and quiet sounds of passing cars helped them relax.

That was until they got in sight of their own house again, and noticed a car parked beside their sedan that was only familiar to Kimihito.

"You're fucking kidding me, now they show up?" Kimihito growled, his expression immediately turning sour. "Really?!"

Zombina looked at the drastic change in attitude of her husband, and then back to the car, managing to put two and two together surprisingly quick. "Wait, your parents showed up now?"

"Yes." Kimihito's voice was tinged with genuine anger. "Come on, I have some words for them."

Zombina nodded and followed along beside her human. She had never actually seen a picture of Kimihito's parents, so she had filled the gap with her own ideas. Those ideas more or less came out to 'the biggest douches in the world.'

Opening the front door, Kimihito said with a voice schooled back into neutral. "Hello?"

"Kimi!" Came an oddly excited voice from the living room, and a surprisingly normal woman stepped out into the hallway. Long smooth black hair, almost as tall as Kimihito, and a very obviously western dress sense going by the t shirt and knee length shorts combo. "We're sorry for missing your wedding! We didn't see the emails till it had already happened."

Kimihito and Zombina's eyes twitched almost simultaneously. Kimihito's voice was a very dangerous monotone. "But we sent them a month ahead of time."

"Ahh, yes, we have taken to using our email only sparingly. It makes things more interesting." A more masculine voice said and stepped in behind Kimihito's mom. The man looked like the ultimate hipster - tall, skinny, and wearing a terrible sweater vest along with a goatee. It caused Zombina to wonder if Kimihito had taken to being a grunt work mechanic just to spite his father somewhere. "Though this must be your wife."

Both parents looked at Zombina, and while the zombie girl's mental buildup expected them to be liminal haters, they actually didn't seem to thrown off by her appearance. Kimihito's mom actually looked like she was positively enamoured with the zombie woman already.

"Oh, so nice to meet you!" Kimi's mother said as she hugged onto the board stiff girl for a moment then pulled back. "We were so happy to hear that Kimi finally managed to get himself a wife, we thought he was never even going to get a girlfriend."

"I sent you messages telling you when we started dating, and a bunch after that…" Kimihito looked like he was equally conflicted between the attitude his parents had, having painted his own demonic image of them after years of absence, and how even if they were acting like this, they still had ignored literally every message he sent their way for the last few years.

Kimihito's father nodded. "Yes, we saw when we checked our email last week. We got so into our travels that we just forgot entirely about it."

"You wouldn't believe Europe and those places. Their cities are so spread out compared to here. Their are so many farms and vineyards. They have these little villages that are just adorable and they have castles and things everywhere."

Kimihito's eye twitched again as he was told about all the things he missed thanks to his parents leaving him behind.

"And America is an...interesting place." Kimihito's father took over the explanation. "It covers so much area that it feels like an entirely different country if you travel far enough along it. From busy New York to quiet middle of nowhere North Dakota. Though I must admit I figured out why they call a number of those places the 'fly over' states. There is only so many fields of wheat you can see before it all starts blending together."

He shook his head and offered a hand to Zombina. "Though where are my manners. Welcome to the family, Zombina. I hope Kimihito hasn't been too much of a blockhead for you."

Zombina shook the man's hand, but noticed something, even at home Kimi's parents were more focused on her then seeing their son again for the first time in years. By the way they worded it it seemed that the only reason they had come home in the first place was to see her.

The zombie woman decided to test out her theory. "He's been fine, more than fine. You have a really amazing son." Leaning onto her husband's shoulder she continued. "We had barely been dating for a month before I knew I had to have him forever."

"Kimihito's so lucky to have such a devoted wife!" Kimihito's father exclaimed, his attention still firmly on Zombina and it was almost like his parents had already forgotten Kimihito was there given the way they referred to him like he wasn't in the room.

The thought made Zombina's face take a neutral line, and she squeezed her human's shoulder in her grip. She hoped that it would calm him down a bit as she could practically feel an explosive outburst coming from him. She didn't really want to stop him, but letting him take his parents to pieces would not do anything to help.

It seemed she succeeded enough that Kimihito didn't punch his father's lights out. "Yes, I am very lucky to have Zombina, and could you please stop talking about me like I'm not in the room?"

"Sorry Kimi." Kimihito's mom said almost dismissively. "We are just so excited, after all we never expected to come back to having a daughter in law."

"You never expected to come back at all!" Kimihito's dam finally broke, his words coming out as a shout. "You came home just because you noticed that I got married! If I hadn't sent those messages you'd never have come back."

"Well." Kimihito's father seemed unrepentant. "We have been very busy. Indeed we are only going to be staying here for a day or two before we have to return to Europe, our review columns aren't going to research themselves."

"And what, you'll just ignore anything I send your way again?!" Kimihito wasn't about to let this go. "Like holy hell, I haven't even _heard_ from either of you in five goddamned years! Then you just show up like everything's fine? You left me to fucking raise myself!"

Kimihito's parents looked guilty, and his mother said. "Kimi, you know we only left because we had to make money to put you through everything..."

"Bullshit! You're telling me you couldn't have found something here? You've been spending the last few years gallivanting around the western world and just forgot about me! If you really cared you'd have at least sent a fucking message or something!"

Kimihito's anger seemed to burn down to something a bit less shouty though it hadn't left at all. Pointing at the door he said in a deathly quiet voice. "Out, now."

"We still own this house." Kimihito's father said sternly, even as he wasn't able to meet his son's eye

It was Zombina though that dispelled the notion. "Actually, when we adopted our kid, and got married, we had one of my friends look into that. Legally Kimihito and myself own this place now. If you want we can start repaying you for it, but for now, leave, before Kimi here throws you out."

Both the parents seemed like they were about to contest that, Kimihito's father looking defiant while his mother looked absolutely devastated at both herself and at getting kicked out of the house by her son. The look on Kimihito's eyes though made them back down, and his father said. "We'll go."

Kimihito's mom pulled her son into a hug. "We're really sorry dear! We'll go but please, please! Don't just cut us out entirely…"

"Like you did to me?" Kimihito said dully, but finally sighed and gave his mother a half hug. "If you both stop ignoring every message sent your way, I'll try to keep contact. Now please, leave. I need to calm down right now."

His mother gave him one more hug, and then let go, the two parents leaving the boy and his zombie wife behind. A minute or two after the car pulled away, Kimihito sighed. "Well...I could have handled that better."

"You also could have handled it much worse." Zombina said as she hugged her husband again. "Honestly I thought you were going to cold clock your dad there at the start."

"I was thinking about it." Kimihito said as he hugged Zombina back, sighing heavily and dropping onto the couch as he gave his wife a half surprised look. "Though uhh, you really meant that want me for forever part right?"

"Of course, our wedding vows were for 'as long as we shall remain' last I remember." Zombina said with an odd grin and chuckle, as if she was both happy and worried. "Why, finally decided to join the land of the unliving?" She half-asked, and half joked, probing as the last of the anger left her husband.

"Yeah… I think it's time,"He paused as Zombina opened her mouth, about to say something. He cut her off. "And before you ask it's not because I want to rub my parent's face in this whole thing." Kimihito smiled again as he looked to his wife. "It's just, when you said that, I realized just how much I felt the same." He raised his head, and gave her another squeeze as they embraced. "Anyways, not like this wasn't going to happen eventually. Might as well do it sooner rather than later, while I still look good."

Kimihito's attempt at a joke drained some of the concern from Zombina's smile, and she gave a little nod.. "You sure? Like, really really sure Kimi. I won't love you any less if you don't-"

Her further words were cut off by Kimihito pulling Zombina into a deep kiss. The redhead knew that her husband hadn't taken his pill for the day, and they hadn't had any reason to take one yesterday because they were so busy trying to make sure Yuuhi was already for school.

"Of course I'm sure." Kimihito said with a huge grin on his face. "I love you after all, and I want to be with you and Yuuhi forever too."

* * *

 **A/N 2:** The second arc poll is now closed, with Rachnera taking the lead by a large margin. In second place was a tie between Mero and Papi's Mom. These two will be carried over to the Arc 3 poll (which should be up by the time you finish reading this chapter, or at least shortly after that.) For the next chapter there is going to be a few more character tags. For girls like Cathyl, there are two options, one for Kimihito and one for the boy they are actually shown with in the manga. I will only be doing each girl once, so if the farmer wins, then that will be the only Cathyl arc that will be written. Just letting you all know. Also any character tagged with (Yamada) is based off my other story Spokes of Life and anything tagged with (DLWBC) is based off the Bicycle Cop fanart thing that was kicking around involving the echidna and pirate mermaid and the like.

The Rachnera arc will likely be starting sometime in Mid May(I want to get a chapter or two out for Spokes before then), though given how I am it might come out earlier. Either way hope to see you all here when it comes out!


	4. Chapter 4: Accompanying an Arachne

**A/N:** Well here it is, the long time coming Arc 2 Chapter 1. Sorry for the delay on this one, editing it took almost two weeks all in all and I hope the result ended up being worth it. As always, love it, hate it, see something that can be improved or just have a comment? Leave a review! I feast upon your reviews! And because I feast on said reviews, I'm leaving replies to the ones from Arc 1 Chapter 3 at the end of this chapter.

 **Disclaimer:** Still don't own anything

* * *

 **Arc 2, Chapter 1: Accompanying an Arachne**

Ren Kunanzuki had problems. Three problems, to be clear. The first was that, while she hid it from everyone who knew her, she was rather terrified of spiders. The second was the liminal that had been picked to be her family' homestay. The third was her friend's reaction on hearing the second.

It was that last one that was currently pestering the redheaded girl.

"You have to let me meet her at least one time!" The man that was walking between classes beside her said. With scruffy black hair, thick rimmed square glasses, and a surprisingly fit physique for a biology student, Kimihito Kuruzu had been Ren's classmate since highschool. Both of them had been interested in biology, but while Ren was focused more on the human body, Kimihito had taken an interest in entomology. It was still the first year though and they shared many classes as a result.

The redheaded woman sighed, and her twin pigtails bobbed as she shook her head. "I still don't get how you can be that excited. She's a giant spider!"

That was really the root of Ren's problem. The liminal that her family had been assigned was an arachne, a being that was half human, half spider. Needless to say Ren's hidden fear had been plaguing her for the last two weeks, almost as much as Kimihito had been plaguing her to meet the spider-woman. Arachnophobia was easy to suppress when the only potential bump-ins could be ran from or squashed, but this? This one was too big for any newspaper in Ren's budget!

Ren had been avoiding it so far, mostly because she was still adjusting to the drider's presence, and really didn't need to deal with the liminal _plus_ her excitable friend in her already somewhat crowded household. The alternative would have been to bring the arachne out with her, but the young woman hadn't managed to muster up the courage for that yet.

She actually hated herself for it, Ren could see how it was hurting her homestay when she left the room the moment the arachne stepped into it. At the same time though she couldn't break past it, and she couldn't tell her parents or they'd boot the spider woman right back to where she came from. As much as that would have solved Ren's problems, the arachne had been so excited to be in Japan that she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Now though, she had finally had enough of both her friends endless asking. At the very least maybe she could kill two birds with one stone. If Kimihito started to come over then there would be someone else around to help keep her homestay entertained, and maybe he could even take her around town.

"Okay fine!" Ren half-shouted with a huff. She turned on her heels to poke Kimihito in the chest. "You can come over after class and meet Rachnera. But I swear to god, if you get all weird and bring, like, lab equipment or something I'll send you home in a stretcher, you got it?"

"Great! Thanks alot Ren, I can't believe I'm going to get to meet an actual spider person!" Kimihito brushed off the threat with an almost dozy lack of concern as he always did. The man was made of iron, he'd even been hit by a car once and handled it without anything worse than a few scrapes. Ren's impatience was less scary to him than paper airplanes.

With another exasperated sigh, Ren stepped into class and pulled out her notebook, ready for another boring few hours listening to the teacher drone on and on.

Kimihito Kuruzu hadn't felt this excited since he had been accepted into his city's most accomplished university. It had been one of the few times his parents had flown back to Japan in years, and having them there to congratulate him in person had made the moment all the better.

Thinking of his parents made him pause for a moment. While he wouldn't really call his relationship with his parents 'good' by any stretch, it definitely wasn't bad. They worked overseas and were only able to come back to visit him on rare occasions, but at the same time it was their work that allowed him to go to university and he knew that. At the very least they kept in touch, always telling him about whatever new things they were doing and he'd tell them about how classes went. While it was good to be able to talk to them, that constant distance did nag at him. He did wish they could come home more often though.

The thought only lingered for a few moments before the excitement came back. The man had severe difficulty focusing on classes as he started taking notes of everything he wanted to talk to the liminal about. Ever since the integration of the human and liminal worlds had begun, he had wanted to take in a liminal himself, but the government had determined that due to his university enrollment and with his parents being overseas, he wouldn't be able to 'put in the required time' to have a monster-person assigned to his house. It was a true catch-22; oh, how envious he was of those who had the time to take one in.

Everytime he had seen one walking by on the street he had felt a bit odd. It was something like excitement, but he was more at the idea of seeing humans and what effectively amounted to near aliens, getting along peacefully. On top of that, just the idea of liminals drove him wild with curiosity! When they had arrived it had completely turned science on its head. By every account of biology they shouldn't have existed, they shouldn't have even been able to exist! Yet here they were, and now everyone had a chance to learn how they function and what makes them tick.

The teacher ended his lesson, and Kimihito practically materialized beside Ren. "All ready to go when you are!"

He couldn't help but laugh a bit at Ren's surprised 'eep' as the redheaded girl nearly lept out of her seat. His longtime friend had always been fun to tease, it really helped that he was very much immune to the girl's more 'tsundere' side due to whatever quirk of biology had given him his unnatural bodily resistance.

He had met the red-head back in the first year of highschool when they had been assigned to groups in their biology class. Both had had similar interests and hit it off within minutes. They had been close enough that most of their classmates joked that they were the most likely to hook up year after year, but the two had never had much an interest in dating the other.

"Okay so some ground rules." The redhead beside him began as they rode the bus back to her home. "No asking to do any scientific tests on my homestay, no randomly touching her because you wanted to closer examine something, and just in general no acting like you usually do when you're excited about something."

"You act like I don't even have the slightest concept of social norms." Kimihito sounded mildly affronted even if his face spoke that he wasn't bothered by Ren's rules.

Unfortunately for him, Ren was not having any of that, and glared at him. "That is because you don't. I'm not kidding Kimihito, I don't want you freaking out my homestay because you forgot yourself." She really didn't want an accidental murder to further her fears of spiders.

"Fine fine." Kimihito raised his hands in surrender. "I'll keep my scientific curiosity on a leash. More than a reasonable trade off for an opportunity like this."

"Good. Who knows, if you and her hit if off well enough maybe you'll finally get yourself a girlfriend." Ren joked,nudging Kimihito in the side, reminding the man of his rather terrible track record in the romance department.

"Not like you're one to talk Ren."

"At least I've _had_ a boyfriend before. Now stop arguing before I decide to call this little visit off!"

Rachnera's fingers clicked together, the sharp tips proving themselves to be all she needed to work on the outfit in her grip. It was a hobby she had gotten much more experience with recently thanks to her hosts being so terrified of her.

They had tried to hide it, but they did a poor job, and Rachnera had never been one to be fooled easily. She had seen it in how they avoided looking at her spider half and forced their eyes to focus on her humanoid half, but even then her multiple eyes made the young lady of the house flinch. Then it showed in how they flinched away when her armoured hands went anywhere near them, and how she was just generally left to her own devices in her room. She hadn't even gotten to leave the house since she arrived a week ago.

With a sigh, the spider girl stopped her knitting for a moment. One of the near invisible threads she had set around the house had broken, telling her that Ren had come home for the day. Strangely, as she felt from the stronger vibrations of the thread, there seemed to be a second person with her. Rachnera had started to think her youngest host didn't have friends given she hadn't seen a single one show up since she had moved in. Even stranger was that the two were heading toward her room.

Putting her project away, Rachnera waited for the knock at her door.

"Hey Rachnera, can we come in?" Ren's voice came through the wall.

Interesting. Usually Ren avoided her the most. To the point that she rarely was ever in the same room as her even during dinner and the like. The girl tried to hide her loathing, but to one as scrutinous as the spider woman, it was clear like a fly caught in a cobweb. "Please do, the door is unlocked."

Rachnera had expected Ren to show up with a female friend, not the somewhat lanky, messy haired boy to come in behind the redheaded wanna-be scientist. The black-haired man stopped dead as he entered the room, staring at her with a slack jaw. Her raised eyebrow was all the question needed for Ren to answer.

"Rachnera, this is Kimihito. He's my friend from university and was extremely interested in meeting you."

Before Rachnera could say anything, Kimihito blushed and then bowed, awkwardly formal. "Hello, miss. I'm sorry for the intrusion, but after Ren told me she was host to a spider liminal, I just really, _really_ wanted to meet you."

The spider woman's eyebrows rose again, but despite her surprise, a smile crept its way onto her face. While it was nice to have someone actually interested in her for once, it was...extremely awkward to meet someone that had apparently been interested in her before she even knew he existed.

"Umm, nice to meet you?" The spider woman tentatively extended a hand, a bit interested to see if he'd actually shake it.

Straightening himself out, Kimihito grabbed her hand and shook it without even a slight bit of hesitation and completely uncaring for her sharp claws. Rachnera actually flinched a bit when he tightly wrapped her hand in his grip, almost certain he was about to come away with a few bleeding cuts from the sharp edges But...nothing happened when he pulled back. No blood, nor even a sign of injury.

"It really is! I know humanity and liminals are only really getting to know each other, but that's so strange since we've been fascinated with animals and insects since we were advanced enough to tell stories! How could we not? We walk with two legs wherever we want while you climb with eight and make cobwebs! Like, there's this one American story about a man who gets the powers of a spider, and everyone loves it, but then I read the lore of it and I zoned out because it's a complete handwave! There's no real connection to arachnids, it's just a handwave for some sensationalist gimmick. But you, you're the real deal. I cannot possibly deny you are a human-spider hybrid! Nor would I want to! And that leaves me with so many questions! Like where did you live before this? Are you just a carnivore or can you eat vegetables? Are your lungs in your abdomen? Are-" Kimihito's string of questions was cut off by him getting a whap on the back of the head by Ren, at the same instant a gag of webbing wrapped around his head and covered his mouth.

"What did I say about being your normal self!"

"Woah, slow down there."

The two girls spoke simultaneously, and for a moment they paused to look at each other, but before either of them could sense what that meant for them, Ren bapped Kimihito on the back of the head again. "You look like you have this well in hand Rachnera, so I'll just...go get tea!"

With that Ren quickly escaped the room and left the gagged Kimihito and Rachnera standing there awkwardly. Kimihito blushing a bit in embarrassment about things getting the better of him, Rachnera just thrown off by the barrage of questions.

Eventually it was the spider woman that broke the silence, if only because Kimihito couldn't. "I'm not about to say that wasn't a bit creepy and or dorky, but I'd rather you be yourself around me than try to be someone else." Rachnera left the gag as it was, her convictions somewhat trumped by her aversion to that much chattering. "As for your...questions. Italy, just meat, and yes, respectively. Now I have a few of my own. Why were you so interested in meeting me?

With that the gag was cut and Kimihito was able to talk again, though to his surprise he found his feet firmly affixed to the planking below him by silk she must have wrapped while he was babbling. "Well, I'm an entomology student and the idea of a human-spider person really got me super excited. Though really just getting to talk to a liminal at all is so cool!

Rachnera let his words hang for a moment before, almost incredulously, leaning in, eyes narrowing suspiciously, "And you _don't_ find me terrifying, as Rin and her family do?"

Kimihito's response came simple, and equally confused. "Why would I?"

Rachnera was even more thrown off, mostly because to Kimihito, the idea of anyone being scared of her seemed alien.. She refused to show her surprise, instead she smirked and came back in a semi-teasing, accusatory tone. "Ohh? You got 'super excited to see me?' Maybe I should be worried you'll try to do something to me while Ren's not here."

"Uhh…well I can't move my feet, so I can't come over there and like... Try to see how thick your carapace is or anything..." Kimihito was completely oblivious to the tone of Rachnera's statement, and the spider girl frowned for a moment. "Though Ren made sure I didn't bring any of the lab equipment anyways. She said it would freak you out."

"Well, she's right, but…" She frowned, giving him another suspicious look. "Would you actually do something like that?" The spider woman's left claws tapped her right arm in consideration. She wasn't sure if this was any better then Ren fearing her. While Kimihito could at least look her in the eyes and really didn't seem to be worried about her spider parts, he was almost...too interested. It was like her being a science experiment.

"Nah, that was mostly just when I'm trying to tweak Ren or one of my other friends." Kimihito said with a joker's grin. "Unless you volunteered, then I might."

That settled her worry a little bit, but she couldn't help but say with her smirk still in place. "That's good, but word of warning; You're coming on a bit strong. Boys shouldn't be trying to get that touchy just after meeting a girl, you know. They want you to care more for their character than their body." She winked with half of her eyes.

"Ah," Kimihito bowed at the waist again. "I'm sorry if I got really weird there. I do have to admit I got way too excited."

It was at that moment that Ren walked back into the room with some tea cups and a kettle on a tray. She seemed rather relieved that no one was hurt. "I've brought the tea. How have you two been getting along?"

"Well, I think we're getting along okay, but I that's just me." The humbled student said as he tried to move to accept his cup. He was rapidly reminded of the silk bindings that the spider had wrapped around his feet when the sudden tension sent him arse over elbow to the floor with a loud thud. "Oof, that smarts a bit..."

"...Yes, it was a bit weird to start but I think we're getting along well enough." Rachnera chuckled after a moment of watching the human shake off the fall, and a moment later she cut the binding on his feet.

"That's good!" Ren said, absolutely unconcerned with Kimihito's fall; If a speeding Toyota 2010 didn't hurt him, a little fall certainly wouldn't. "Uh, while I was out, I got an idea. Since my parents and I can't really take you out too often, Rachnera. Do you think you'd be fine with, uh…" She trailed off awkwardly, bawking internally at the idea of passing her homestay off on a man who practically slept with a specimen jar. "With Kimihito taking you around town?"

Rachnera could rather obviously tell that Kimihito hadn't been informed of this plan ahead of time given his squawk of surprise, but she wasn't about to turn down the chance to go around town, even if she wasn't really sure on her opinion of the black haired university student. "I'd be fine with it. Would be nice to get out and stretch my legs."

Kimihito, for his part, wasn't about to turn down an offer to spend more time with a liminal, to say nothing that he was still a man, so there was also little chance he was going to turn down the opportunity to go out with such beautiful girl. "Oh, right, okay then."

So Rachnera was outside, on a street corner just a block from Ren's house. The big, open world was waiting for her once more. There was something slightly liberating about that, but only slightly.

"Well...where do you want to go?" Kimihito asked. It took that long before he even figured out that there was precisely zero plan to this excursion. He was rubbing the back of his head a bit nervously as he looked around and waited for a reply.

Rachnera put a clawed finger to her chin and hummed. "Well, I do want to see this city's sense of fashion…" She paused, looking thoughtful. "And it will soon be dinner-time. Soooo… A mall?"

Kimihito perked up brightly, gesturing for Rachnera to follow as he started walking. "Great, there's one not that far from here. Just follow me and we'll get there right quick."

The arachne donned an amused smile at his eagerness and set about following the black haired man, looking at his back as they walked through the crowds. As they went she could see the other people on the street move away from her and avert their eyes from her abdomen and sharp legs. That didn't surprise her, as liminals went, driders couldn't help but be conspicuous, but what did was Kimihito's own reaction. He didn't even seem phased by her, and now that he had had some time to calm down after the initial rush of data-to-the-brain, he had stopped treating her like a specimen too. If anything he seemed to be treating her just like...well anyone else.

It was very odd, especially given his former obsession, and Rachnera didn't like odd. She would get to the root of Kimihito, and figure out if this was a polite mask or if he genuinely was fine with her. If it was the former she'd take great delight in tearing him down and showing who he actually was. The thought brought an unconscious and worrying smirk to her face as they passed a particularly gaudy storefront. But if it was the latter? Well, maybe he'd be worth an extra look….She did have six eyes afterall.

For now, they had arrived at the mall, passing through the busy parking lot was a bit difficult given Rachnera took up more than a sidewalk, and most of a lane if she was on the road proper. Despite it, Kimihito didn't seem to mind when they had to slow down to let cars pass or take the long way around a maze of automobiles as she couldn't fit between parked cars. Even at the entrance he acted like the nice guy she was slowly getting used to, and made sure to open both doors for her via the somewhat humorous act of him half-sprinting between the two handicap buttons.

"Okay! This place has a few fashion outlets, and a pretty big food court…" He paused, then, somewhat sheepishly added, " Also if you don't mind there's a hobby store here too and I… Er... kinda want to pick up some more models." Kimihito chuckled quietly as Rachnera stepped into the mall, and saw the large, glass-roofed building in all its glory.

Coming from a town where the largest building was two stories, the seven stories of the mall, each one crowded with people and stores, was a sight to behold for the arachne. It was such a wondrous vision that she didn't respond for nearly a minute, before a small laugh from Kimihito shook her out of her daze.

"Sorry, but I guess you haven't seen a place this big before?" Kimihito's hands were raised in mock surrender at the glare the spider woman threw his way.

"No." Rachnera shook her head as she looked at the masses of people moving by, unsure if she felt mildly ill or incredibly impressed. "I think there is more people in this building than in my entire hometown. It's a bit strange to see so many, to be honest."

"How many people live in your home town anyways?" Kimihito asked, and Rachnera was about to answer him when she caught something out of the corner of her eyes. A flash of white and what looked like furious scribbling, but when she turned his hands were buried in the pockets of his pants and he had an air of innocence around him.

One half of the six eyes of the spider girl all widened a bit in the best representation of raising an eyebrow that she could do. "...What was that?"

"Nothing." He shot back a bit too quickly.

Rachnera didn't dignify that with a response, she just narrowed her eyes at him, lips curling slowly upward in an almost predatory way. The staring contest would go on for almost two minutes, with some passersby giving them odd looks but most people just purposefully ignoring the terrifying looking spider person.

Finally Kimihito caved with a strained sigh. He pulled out a small notepad and pencil, with somewhat sloppy writing scrawled across the page. "I was just taking notes. I hope that's fine." The black haired man looked embarrassed, and shuffled on his feet.

Rachnera looked at the notepad from where it was in the human's hand, eyes passing over the mostly innocuous scroll with a quiet, inward suspicion. After a moment's pause, she shrugged. "Eh, at least it's better than before. Still a bit weird though."

"Sorry, I can't help myself. It's just so exciting." Kimihito said, the small grin on his face barely hiding that he looked as if he were about to squeal like a schoolgirl. He pocketed the notepad again and scratched the back of his neck. "But uh, yeah, let's go do that shopping."

Rachnera couldn't help but chuckle softly and nod, and the two headed deeper into the mall. The multi-floored layout proved easy for Rachnera to handle, as, though the elevators and escalators were somewhat beyond her reach given her size, she was quite able to scale and jump between the open floors, much to the security's terror, and Kimihito's notepad's rapidly approaching end.

Given a few minutes for her fascinated tour-guide to catch up, they found their way to the first fashion store on the level. It was mere moments before they were ushered out by the confused and terrified attendant behind the counter, much to Rachnera's second place they tried was a bit better, but a store clerk tailed them and keep asking if they had found everything they needed in a most nerve-grating fashion.

Indeed, it was enough that Rachnera turned from looking at a mannequin to glare at the clerk. "You know, I can pick out clothes myself."

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we thought that your...unique…" The clerk clicked her tongue, tone none-too diplomatic. "Body-type would require an assistant to help make sure outfits will fit you." The clerk shot back defensively.

The ensuing confrontation was cut off before blood was spilt by Kimihito, who cut into the developing staring contest in a surprisingly apologetic tone. "You know, you really are putting an arm..." Kimihito began as he handed the clerk a...plastic arm? She accepted it almost mechanically, mouth hanging open as she tried to reply. Rachnera was doing much better.

"And a leg..." Which was quickly followed by another equally plastic limb. "Into being a complete ass." He piled the mannequin's lower waist into her confused arms. "Now could you please get out of our face..." A plastic head completed the pyramid in the poor summer-employee's distraught arms. "So that we can just shop in peace?"

The feuding pair of women caught up to reality at precisely the same moment and their eyes went immediately to the mannequin that Rachnera had been looking at. Somehow in the space of the short argument, Kimihito had manage to render the synthetic person to its component parts, the outfit it had been wearing folded up neatly beside it.

Needless to say, they weren't in that store much longer, yet at the same time Rachnera was laughing the whole way out. Her soft voice made her laughter almost melodic to Kimihito's attentive ears. The man took a single note, but only got as far as two words before returning all attention to the almost hypnotic sound he was rapidly becoming enamoured with: ' _great laugh.'_ ,

Eventually Rachnera stopped laughing, and she put a hand on Kimihito's shoulder. "Oh, that was great! The look on that lady's face when you handed her the ass was priceless! Of course it could only have gotten us removed, but what better way to leave than that! Oh, you are a creative boy, Kimihito. It was totally worth it."

"Wh-why, thank you." Kimihito chuckled himself, unworried about the hand on his shoulder. While Rachnera didn't actively notice that, she did subconsciously, and it continued to chalk up points in the man's favour. It was miniscule compared to that little stunt that got her laughing in the first place, though.

"Okay, we still have two more stores to try, hopefully _one_ of them will be reasonable at least." Kimihito said as her laughter finally died down. "They're on the next floor up, my hobby store is up there anyways."

Kimihito started towards the stairs, but found Rachnera's hand on his shoulder didn't move, keeping him there. "Uhhh, Rachnera? Are you going to let go?"

"Well I figure there's a way we can get there _faster_." The spider woman said with a grin that sent shivers through the black haired boy's spine.

He noticed her legs tense, and just at the last moment before drider and company went sailing gaily through the air, he heard himself start to say. "Wait..."

Then Rachnera leapt up to the next floor, Kimihito kept tow by a one handed grip, and a copious amount of webbing. Rachnera's aim was a bit off though, and instead of the boy landing in one of the massage chairs she had aimed for, he crashed head-first into the potted plant beside it.

"Oh dear... Sorry 'bout that!" The spider girl said and, while she tried to hide it, there was rather obvious worry in her voice as she pulled him out of the pot and looked to see if he was okay.

Shaking his head to get the dirt out of his hair Kimihito flashed Rachnera a shocking cogent thumbs up considering the flying act he'd just finished. "Not a problem. Might be a bit sore but it'll go away in a few minutes."

"Okay?" Rachnera wasn't sure how to take that. It wasn't the first time she had seen Kimihito's semi-legendary resilience, but it was really the most obvious. At the speed she was going, he probably should have at least been bruising, but it didn't even look like that was going to happen as the redness on his face dissipated while she was watching. Ironic that he would be the greater biological abnormality of the two.

She decided to chalk it up to a fluke and moved on. Luckily the next store was right there, and this one was much more accepting of her spidery form. Rachnera actually even purchased a few things, though Kimihito had been stuck outside while she had dealt with a clerk for the fitting. Truthfully none of them fit her really, mostly for her impressive bust size that put something like 90% of clothing made for humans well out of her reach, but she could easily enough modify them accordingly in her spare time. The absolute worst she could say about the otherwise kind clerk was the blatant envy she'd done a rather poor job hiding over the drider's predicament.

Finally they went to Kimihito's hobby shop, and Rachnera had to admit she was somewhat surprised that it appeared to be a tabletop game store. She had been expecting something like RC cars, or some science kits or something to fit his ambitious first impression, but instead the man had walked out of there with a few boxes of excessively overpriced miniatures and some new paint and glue.

"I swear, the prices of these things goes up every day." Kimihito said with a sigh as they stepped outside.

Rachnera looked at the boxes, then back to Kimihito. "So much money for such tiny figurines. Why do you buy them if you know how expensive they are?"

"Ehh," Kimihito shrugged. "It gives me something to do with my hands. It's nice to have something to keep your attention for a few hours or days. I figure you like your knitting for the same reason."

Rachnera was thrown for a loop at that, she had thought she had hidden away her clothes before Ren and Kimihito had shown up.

"I saw the incomplete sleeve of a shirt poking out from your storage chest." He offered sheepishly when she looked as if she was going to ask how he knew. "And I figure none of the clothes around here would fit you, so you'd have to tailor them anyways." Kimihito explained, trying to avoid looking at the generous assets that cause Rachnera her clothing difficulties.

The spider-woman gave a small laugh and it was Kimihito's turn to be caught off guard. "Well, that was a rather astute observation of you." Rachnera, much to his relief, switched the topic after a moment's silence. "Let's go to the food court, I'm getting pretty hungry and the crowds getting to be a bit much."

If it were just the sheer volume of people, that'd be bad enough, but Rachnera was starting to feel suffocated by the number of people bumping into her, murmuring about how much space she took up.. She could only ignore them for so long, so she really did just want to get something to eat and go.

Unfortunately, her haste to get away from the crowd did little to ease poor Kimihito's second, hapless, trip on elevator Rachnera. The pair found themselves in the greatest abundance and variety of food that Rachnera had ever seen. It wasn't really anything special for Kimihito, but while he already knew where he was going to eat, he first spent the few minutes to give Rachnera a basic rundown of each booth and store, and what they served.

He never thought he'd have to explain what McDonalds was to anyone in his life, but that day he did, along with explaining many many other places.

Soon enough the two had their food, with an increasingly uncomfortable Rachnera insisting they get something to go. Kimihito walked out of the food court with a sandwich, and Rachnera, two hotdogs without the buns. The spidergirl being completely unable to digest anything that wasn't meat had made getting anything a bit difficult but they'd managed it. One advantage of the armoured carapace that covered her hands was that she could hold them without worrying about the heat as she ate, but it did earn her more than a few extra stares as she'd quite happily discarded the paper the dispondant attended had tried to wrap her 'meal' in.

Not long after they left the mall, Kimihito dropped Rachnera off at Ren's house. The two walking up to the steps with Kimihito carrying a number of bags, both his own and Rachnera's.

The spider woman took her own bags though when they stepped up to the door, grinning slightly. "Well that was fun. It was nice meeting you, Kimihito. Thanks for being willing to chaperone me."

"It wasn't any problem. If you ever feel the urge to go out again just ask. Ren'll probably tell me at school and I can come over after. Not like I really do anything with my days after I finish studying." Kimihito said, then blushed a bit as he realized he was being a bit presumptive.

He was about to retract his statement when Rachnera gave a small laugh and said. "I think I will. You better be ready next time though, I'm thinking we're going to go somewhere more interesting than just a mall." With a grin the spider woman went into the house, and left Kimihito to head home himself, with her laughter ringing in his ear a little longer than could easily be considered normal.

Meanwhile inside the house, a certain redheaded woman had been waiting in anticipation for the news of what she was hoping was a 'first date' of sorts, and with a relieved sigh pulled herself back in through her bedroom window. It was good to hear it went well, if only because she felt a bit less guilty about her terror of her housemate since she found someone that would be willing to take her around town.

Now she just needed to work herself up to having an honest conversation with the woman, and all would be great.

Rachnera was true to her word, as the next 'date' was indeed to a much more interesting place than a mall. It was almost two weeks after the first outing when Rachnera, through Ren, requested that Kimihito take her out somewhere. Even if he had been of the mind to refuse, the black haired man was fairly sure he wouldn't have been allowed to judging by Ren's demeanor at the time.

As it was, the student had actually spent most of the intervening two weeks agonizing over the prospect of another 'date.' Not because of his companion, more that he was utterly terrified that he might have zero prospects with her at all, that perhaps Rachnera had just been nice to him at the end there.

It wouldn't surprise him really, it wasn't often that a random science student managed to actually get the attention of an attractive woman. Let alone one like Rachnera. If he had been willing to admit such things, he might have said that the shockingly curvy drider had caused him a few restless nights, because he had woken up in the wee hours of the evening to make new notes, brought up by his mind at the most random times.

So when Ren had come up to him before class and told him that he'd be taking Rachnera out on another excursion that afternoon, he had practically been jumping for joy. Even if he had done his best to suppress that, he didn't want Ren to think he was creeping on her homestay or something…

He showed up right after classes, only stopping to dump his bag off at his house. He actually arrived early enough that he had to wait a few minutes for Rachnera to get ready.

Once she was though, the spider woman did not hesitate to drag him down the end of the street. Now that the outing wasn't so impromptu, Rachnera had taken the time to plan out the venture beforehand, and all that was actually needed was Kimihito to accompany her, not lead the way.

So it was that he found himself at the first stop on the list, which was of all things, a doujin store.

"Uh, why are we here? I didn't really take you as the type to be into this kind of stuff Rachnera." Kimihito said as he stood with the arachne, looking at the….less than child friendly doujin around them... with a trepid gaze.

Rachnera though didn't seem phased at all by his question, or his own rather apprehensive look around the place, instead actually seeming quite casual about the massive quantity of erotica they were immersed in. "I signed up to come to Japan for a few reasons, the rather open selling of pornography was one of them. I'm looking for any new techniques to try out with my webs."

"I...see?" Kimihito asked, not sure if he felt worried or turned on by that information. Though given he still barely knew Rachnera, he was currently leaning towards the former. After a few more minutes of sheepish silence he asked, "So you like doujin then?"

"Ehh not really, most of its dreck, but there are a few good ones out there, it just takes a while to find them." Rachnera didn't look up from where she was flipping through the various books. "You're a boy right? You've got to like some of this stuff."

"Eh, I prefer non-fiction and science fiction, really. Never could get into comic books much myself." Kimihito shrugged. He had gotten into a few anime, but nothing that would come from this section of a store. He wouldn't ever let anyone see him here by choice.

"Then here, you can read _this_." Rachnera said with a sing-song voice, tossing a...porno for a rather popular anime series into his hands. "I'm feeling a bit bad with you just standing there like a nervous dork while I'm reading away."

"E-E-Eh?" Kimihito fumbled the catch and had to take a second to reach down and cram it back where it came from. "Don't be Rachnera! I'm fine, it's… just a bit awkward being here, fairly sure I've seen a few of my schoolmates already…"

"If they're here then there is nothing to be embarrassed about." Rachnera said almost nonchalantly, though she was hiding a teasing grin using her current read. "They're just as big of perverts as you are then right?"

Kimihito squawked in protest "Hey I'm not a pervert!"

"Oh? You drag an poor, defenseless arachne to a porn store and try to convert her to your strange fetishes by making her read doujins about them? Sounds pretty perverted to me." Rachnera practically bit her lip to hide the laughter that was trying to push it's way past her malevolent grin.

"B-But you're the one that dragged _me_ here!" Kimihito stumbled over his words trying to rebut her..

Rachnera put the book down at that point, her grin now clear for him to see. "But they don't know that, do they?"

"That's not funny Rachnera! Not like I really have much of a reputation around school, but whatever I have is probably going to go down the tubes now. Besides, if they think I'm somehow dating an attractive woman like you then they'd probably be asking themselves why I'd need porn at all, wouldn't they?" He spoke in a rushed and somewhat humiliated whisper, his thoughts becoming words before he could subject them to the mental censor that was his thinking mind.

The moment he realised what he said, he tried to catch the words as they left his mouth, while Rachnera grin intensified, transforming into a delightful, spine-chilling stare. His eyes turned to the floor in embarrassment.

"A-Ah, sorry about that…"

Rachnera just continued to stare, for what felt like an eternity for the black haired man.

Then she blinked, and looked away, blushing a bit herself. "Well that's nice of you to say, but there is no need to talk me up. I know my spider bits are terrifying for most humans."

"I'm being serious!" Kimihito suddenly felt the need to defend Rachnera from herself, even though they were in the middle of a doujin store, and it was a rather awkward thing to talk about in public let alone a place like that. "Your spider-bits just add to how good you look Rachnera, I mean your abdomen is perfectly proportioned to your cephalothorax." On top of that, he added mentally that she had killer legs, eight of them, and none of those urticating hairs that tarantula girls had, it really was a massive turn on for the science student, and the scientist hiding in the science student.

Rachnera stared at him again, six eyes somehow meeting two evenly. The stare gave the arachne a look into the human's soul, and somehow, she could tell he was being serious. For some reason, it made her laugh a little bit, which soon turned to much louder guffaws. "So you aren't just a pervert, you're a fetishist! Getting turned on by spider parts? There isn't any other way to describe you."

Kimihito cried out again. "Hey! It's not _just_ the spider p-"

Further words were cut off when Rachnera put an armoured finger against his lips, shushing him. "Oh I figured that, I noticed the way you were sneaking looks at me at the mall. But I didn't think you'd find armour and sharp edges attractive."

The finger pulled back and stroked her chin. "Though I don't know why I didn't expect it, you are going into bug sciences from what Ren told me. So you got so fed up with not being able to grow your own bug girlfriend you just went and fell for the first spider girl you saw?" At this point Rachnera's grin was filled with 'danger.'

"H-Hey it's -" Whap! Kimihito's rebuttal was cut short when a gag of webbing covered his mouth and silenced him.

Rachnera didn't even appear to notice what she did, or that they were in public as she boxed him into the aisle with her large form, her fangs were bared rather noticeably in her odd smile. Leaning down to put her face just a bit above his, she patted his cheek a few times in such a wonderful, malevolent way that triggered ancient instincts to put as large a volume of space between himself and the drider as possible. He was loathe to admit it, but that wasn't the only primal instinct triggering right now. "Well I'll have to disappoint you." She punctuated the statement with a chuckle that was a little too dark for the restrained student's liking. You'll have to work a bit harder if you want to get in my loincloth, got it? Though I _do_ need a willing practice dummy for my webbing." The spider girl patted his cheek one last time, before cutting the gag and backing away. The mood dispelled in an instant as she picked up another doujin, leaving Kimihito wondering if he had just had some sort of odd fever dream, given literally no one else in the place seemed to have noticed.

It was only the knowing grin on Rachnera's face that kept Kimihito's mind from relegating it to his overactive imagination. Oddly enough, while that little incident did startle him, he couldn't help but admit a small part of his mind found it oddly thrilling, imagine the notes he could get on arachne webs! What was significantly more thrilling was that the arachne had more or less outright said he had a chance if he put in the effort. That small part of his subconscious that had been driving him mad at night was jumping in joy and he couldn't stop it.

The rest of his synapses were expending themselves just trying to keep him on his now quaking legs.

Another few 'dates' passed without much incident, and nothing like what had happened in that doujin store occured again through them. At the very least nothing as blatant. Kimihito had been subject to a battery of small touches, bumps, and other things that he was fairly sure was Rachnera fishing to make sure he really wasn't freaked out by the feeling of her smooth armour against his skin.

Indeed, while Kimihito had only been guessing, it had been a very accurate guess. Rachnera had indeed been testing Kimihito over the last few outings. Each one targeting a different one of her interests, and at the same time meant to deliberately cause him some issue to overcome.

A walk through the forest had turned into her carrying him along as she jumped from tree to tree, just to see if that time in the mall had been a fluke. That had left her wondering just how he had become so indestructible, as even when he had slipped off her and crashed into a tree, quite by accident, he had been fine with only a small lump that quickly faded away.

Then came the trip to a temple at the top of a nearby mountain. That had mostly been out of her own interest to see the secluded place, but it also served as a good test for Kimihito's stamina and physical ability. He had actually managed to make it to the top of the stairs before he had practically collapsed in a tired heap, but it was better than she had expected given his science background.

The way back down had been even more worrying(Read, entertaining).Kimihito had made it halfway before his exhaustion finally overcame his will not to make a complete ass of himself, and he was sent end-over-end, tripping forward and rolling down a few flights worth of stairs before finally coming to a stop. Rachnera had almost been worried that he had finally been done in, but, face still planted firmly in the brickwork, he raised a thumb and started to pull himself back upright.

Rachnera hadn't been sure if she should have laughed or not, but in the end she couldn't stop herself, laughing her abdomen off with such force that she nearly fell down the stairs too.

That brought them to their current date, because at this point Rachnera and Kimihito were willing to drop the apostrophes. What else could they call what was essentially just two interested people walking through the park near Kimihito's home, just so they could enjoy each other's company in the world? The size of the natural area meant there was plenty of empty space, something that the black haired biologist had learned his spidery companion liked.

That kind of unspoken consideration the two were showing had become more blatant, in this date and those before it. Walking through the tree lined paths, that tension was weighing on each step they took. Both of them had realized they were getting into complicated territory in what counted as their 'relationship.'

Objectively, they were dating like as much as any romantic couple, but neither had actually gone so far as to admit such a thing to the other. It left them trapped in what amounted to relationship-limbo as they waited for something to happen to push them one way or the other.

Rachnera was kicking herself at ending up in this position. Such fidgeting hesitation really grinded on her sensibilities about always being open. The problem was that she had tried to bring it up! Multiple times! But every time she started to, her tongue tied into knots tighter than she could manage with her webbing.

Kimihito would have used much less poetic wording himself, but it was crushing him all the same. When he first heard of Rachnera, he had more questions than he had air in his lungs to ask her. Now, there was only one question on his mind, but his voice box scrunched up tightly when he thought of it. Everytime he had tried to bring it up with Rachnera, he hadn't even gotten started toward asking her. His mind just hit a brick wall like he was studying a new chapter, and would promptly end up switching the subject to something else out of necessity.

Today was pretty much the same, with both Rachnera and Kimihito trying to think up ways to approach the subject, but neither was having any more luck than usual. The two were quickly approaching the lake at the center of the park, and more specifically the paddle boats that were rented out for people to cruise around the lake with.

Like it was inevitable that a fly would stumble into a spider's web, it was inevitable that Rachnera would finally bring herself to a self-ultimatum.

Kimihito had passed all her tests to this point. He hadn't been thrown off by her body and its strength, her taste for more isolated adventures, or even her silk play, though she rarely used it with him, didn't seem to phase him at all. Indeed, she was fairly sure he was actually starting to get turned on by it a bit but she wasn't exactly sure there. On top of that, he was just a generally 'nice' guy, he held open doors, he didn't complain when they had to take alternate routes due to her large size, and he never failed to compliment her appearance when she switched outfits for outings. He still occasionally slipped into bouts of weirdness, mostly whenever he saw something new and interesting - but it wouldn't be a success if he didn't have a few faults, either, so maybe she could live with ones as increasingly adorable as those.

He was also quite a dork at times, especially around any of his hobbies. When he had his glasses on, which he only ever really wore occasionally, he looked like a complete nerd, but really she didn't mind that much. If anything his dorkiness, while occasionally annoying, was more endearing than anything else most of the time.

Regardless, her self-ultimatum was that if he passed one last test, then she'd not let herself avoid asking him. She'd ask him to take a boat ride with her, even though the boats were very much not designed for her body shape.

Passing the place she initiated her plan. "Hey Kimihito, can we go out on the lake? I haven't ever actually been on a boat."

Kimihito paused for a moment, looking over at the various paddlers, and then at the price for a rental. Passing test part #1 in that he didn't even send her an apprehensive glance at the idea. "Okay!"

Heading into the building he went to pay for a rental. While Kimihito didn't let Rachnera see it, he was worried about just how he was going to make this work. He _would_ make it work, though, or his name wasn't Kimihito Kurusu!

Rachnera couldn't help herself, she laughed, and laughed and laughed. The chime like sound was music to Kimihito's ears, even if he was the target of it. For he had come up with his idea to make the paddleboat work. He had let Rachnera get herself seated in the swan boat first, the spider girl taking up more or less the entirety of the sitting area. Kimihito meanwhile was standing, but he had to bend awkwardly to get his feet to the petals, making him look more like he was riding the swan head like it was a horse then sitting on a paddle boat.

"Hey, it works, doesn't it?" The black haired man said as they started to get underway.

Rachnera noticed the boat wobbling as they started to head out into the water. "Bit unstable, though."

"It'll be fine! The water's only like three feet deep anyways." Kimihito waved off her concern as he continued to peddle toward the center of the lake.

Rachnera was loathe to admit it, but there was method to the man's madness. The water was much too shallow to harm anyone, and if she stood atop the boat - were it to crash - then her abdomen lungs would stay above the water. The water was unnerving, all the same, for a drider. Yet Kimihito's doggedness met with his ingenuity. She had a hard time not wanting to trust him.

Or at least trust the webbing line she had secretly put on the back of his shirt, so she could fish him back into the boat if he fell off. Which she had to do not a moment too soon.

The black haired man on the swan boat over peddled on one side, and promptly lost his balance. Before he could actually touch the water, she tugged on the string and pulled him back. He was safely suspended and his clothes were dry.

Unfortunately, or fortunately really, she underestimated just how much strength she was using, and instead of pulling him upright, she instead pulled him back enough that he fell into her. His head ending up resting between her large breasts while her predilaps instinctively grabbed him around the waist and holding him tighter to her.

This was too intimate a spot for seasoned lovers, never mind the two of them.

Needless to say, the blush on both their faces was near nuclear meltdown levels. If anyone looked they could almost swear that steam was floating off them both.

Now, Rachnera could quickly lift him back up and they could forget about this moment.

Or she could be a woman of her word, wrap her human arms around him, and sink him deeper into her deep cleavage.

"Aah, well might as well take advantage of this while I can. Do you remember way back on the second date? When I told you that you'd need to put in more effort to get in my loincloth?" She chuckled, still blushing, as his eyes visibly sparkled in mixed terror and delight. "Well, you're not just quite there, but you _are_ close enough that I think we can just call today's outing a date." Her bosom gently rubbed against him rewardingly. "But next time, I want to go to a fancy restaurant." Rachnera tapped Kimihito's nose preciously with an armoured finger.

Kimihito was about to say something, but whatever it was, along with even the memory of whatever it was, were wiped from the earth when Rachnera turned him around in her grip and kissed him deeply. When she pulled back with a blush Kimihito had more or less been reduced to a temporary mental coma.

"Heh, such a dork, it was just a kiss." Rachnera started, before she grinned to herself. "Though while we're at it…" She leaned back in, his eyes widening like an adventurer feeling the first pull of a hidden snare around his ankle.

The two wouldn't get off the boat for a good half hour, and Kimihito's brain would not recover from Rachnera's surprisingly adept tongue until the day after.

Kimihito and Rachnera's outings happened much more regularly from then on. They had at least one every week, if not twice a week, and as such Ren's plan was a complete success. She'd watch her spider homestay even go so far as to dress up for most of her outings now instead of throwing on one of her usual outfits, perhaps to hear Kimihito go into analytical detail on how the dress would look on her. Of course she had worn a 'The Boss' cosplay outfit more than once, so Ren really had no idea where the two were going at any given time. She occasionally asked Kimihito how a date would go, but she had tried to avoid prying too far.

She was planning to wait a little longer, before moving onto the next stage of her plan. While she had started to grow a bit more capable with holding a conversation with Rachnera, she knew the spider girl wasn't exactly going to flourish in her house any longer. Between her own still existent nervousness, and her growing relationship with Kimihito, she had decided to go out and acquire the papers officiating a transfer of a homestay.

Still, while she had begun to fill them out and everything, she had not been planning to bring it up with her parents, or take the process any further for at least a few months. To make sure her friend and the spider woman both really were into each other.

Unfortunately, time was not on her side. It was another one of Rachnera and Kimihito's date nights when the doorbell rang, and her parents moved to answer it. Ren, sitting in the living room heard what was happening. Some greasy, short man had shown up, and had heard from somewhere that the family was having issues with their homestay. Who told him he wouldn't say, but she heard her parents agreement on the issue.

Then he said something that nearly chilled Ren's bones.

"Well, I could take her off your hands, I'll even give you some compensation pay for taking care of her and there won't be any paperwork." Came the voice of the guy at their door, and Ren was immediately on her feet. She needed to stop this, her parents knew what was happening between Rachnera and her friend but she really didn't know if they'd take the money or not.

Sliding into the hallway on sock clad feet, Ren nearly crashed into her mother and father. "Wait! Don't do it!"

The pair were surprised at their daughter's words. They hadn't been about to accept the man's offer out of hand, but they had been rather sure Ren would have wanted the spiderwoman out of the house by any means necessary.

The sleazy man, too, seemed surprised, both by the entrance and the words out of Ren's mouth. "But this is an opportunity for you to remove this troublesome element from your house." His ichorous smile spread further, in the way that made her skin crawl. "Your family could even make some pretty good money off of this."

"But it's not legal!" Ren exclaimed, knowing quite well what was legal, given she had spent a good month just getting her hands on the paperwork.

"Of course it is." The man said. "I'm a registered employee of the interspecies integration unit. It's perfectly fine."

"Then show us your badge!" Ren pointed at the man, unconsciously replicating a pose she had seen in a number of shows when she had been younger.

"Okay, okay," The man said, putting his arms up in a placating gesture, reaching into his pocket he pulled out a card with a 'Interspecies Integration Unit' logo on it. Before the man could put it away Ren snatched it out of his hands, eliciting an irate "Give that back!" from the man.

Given the card was literally printed on poster board and wasn't laminated, he definitely didn't want people to actually touch his 'card.' "This is a fake! You're trying to scam us!"

"Dammit, give me that, you little brat!" The conman growled and grabbed the card out of Ren's hands before beating a hasty retreat to parts unknown as Ren's father turned to the phone in the entrance hall, threatening to call the police.

Silence rang out over the doorstep for a few moments after, before Ren's father closed the door and said. "Good job, Ren, your mother and I nearly fell for that. Though," he scratched his neck, "I must admit, I wouldn't have expected you to react like that. Given your...fear of spiders and all that."

"Fear of what? I'm not…"

She sighed. Apparently Ren had been much worse at hiding her fears then she had thought, but she stood relatively strong at the moment. "Well...It's not that, I've kinda been working on a solution of my own for that."

Ren ran up the stairs, to her room, grabbing her stack of papers and bringing them down. "Here, I figure we might as well do this sooner than later now, before something else like that might happen." Ren handed the stack to her parents, who promptly looked through it, looking at each other, then Ren. Her father spoke first.

"This... could work, and already most of the paperwork is done. I guess we could talk to him later tonight and finalize everything..." Her father hummed as he continued skimming, more than reading. "And I doubt Rachnera would even mind the change."

Rachnera woke up late into next morning. Without any work, she had a habit of sleeping in, and on top of that she had had coffee the night before while out at a nearby bar and grill with Kimihito.

What she wasn't expecting though, was to find all her stuff packed in boxes. Utterly confused, slightly concerned that perhaps Ren's arachnophobia had finally overcome her, she went downstairs to find her boyfriend sitting in the living room, along with Agent Smith, the woman who had been in charge of finding her hosts, as well as Ren and her family.

Kimihito waved to her and the spider girl stepped into the room with a tiny hint of nervousness, not exactly sure what the reason everyone was here for, but worried none the less. Standing behind the chair Kimihito was sitting at she noticed the knowing look Smith directed her way. She felt there was bound to be a talk with the woman at some point, but she figured there was some other reason for today's meeting then her relationship with Kimihito.

Ms. Smith spoke first, a teasing smirk on her face. "Don't worry, Rachnera, it's all good news today I think."

"Oh?" The spider girl tilted her head.

"The first news is that you're moving out-" Smith started before Rachnera exclaimed

"Wait, moving out? But then where am I going to go!?" Rachnera started to panic, before being calmed down by Kimihito putting a hand over one of her chitin plated ones.

"If you would just let me finish." Ms Smith continued. "The good news is that you'll be moving in with your little honey here. He volunteered to take you in."

Rachnera held still for a moment, before looking over at Ren. The red haired woman looked a bit nervous, but gave Rachnera a thumbs up. She had more or less set the whole thing up, she was sure. "Well...how could I say no..?" She raised a slightly skeptical eyebrow which had the rather strange effect of making the secondary and tertiary sets match the expression on her human...ish... eyes. Despite it, she still sounded hopeful. "Especially since you don't seem to have a problem with what we're doing?" Rachnera emphasised what she meant by trailing a finger along Kimihito's jaw line, much to the embarrassment of Ren's family, and poor Kimihito himself.

"Eh, I should, but honestly I can't bring myself to start filing the reports. Anyways, I think you two look good together." Smith grinned over the lip of a cup of coffee she materialized from apparently nowhere. "Though if you could try to keep the more blatant things at home it would make my life a lot easier. I had to do a ton of damage control after that little incident on the lake, or that time at the dance hall…"

The latter mention brought up a rather significant blush from them both, though they didn't elaborate on the topic despite the questioning look from Ren. Smith didn't elaborate either, and the topic was quickly discarded when Rachnera obliged. "Okay okay, I'll try to keep myself in check. Though if you don't mind, I have to give my boyfriend a celebratory kiss."

Even with the warning, Kimihito was caught off guard when Rachnera bent over him and planted a kiss rivaling the one on the lake on him. It went on longer then anyone was really prepared for, and everyone else in the room started to get a bit uncomfortable when two started moving from 'questionable' to 'cover-the-children's-eyes'.

Eventually Ms Smith coughed, and the couple broke it up. Kimihito rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, scarlet still painting his cheeks. "Er… Sorry about that…" He changed the subject as quickly as humanly possibly, and stood, stumbling only a bit, considering how much a kiss like that would stagger the average person. "Come on Rachnera, I rented a truck so we can get all your stuff over to my place in one go."

With the drider returning a practically radiant smile, clearly less embarrassed than the poor black-haired student at their show of infatuation, the young couple headed upstairs, leaving behind a chuckling Smith, a smiling Ren, and the rather uncomfortable, but still happy for the result Mr and Mrs Kunanzuki

* * *

 **A/N 2:** Review responses!  
 **Doc Slendy:** I was very tempted to have Kimihito do this, but figured it wasn't quite something he'd do, though another iteration had Zombina punching his lights out instead.

 **RedGargoyle09** **:** I actually have a plan for if the Kimihito/Cathyl arc ends up being voted up. (I actually have outlines for more or less every character at this point because I get bored and work them out.) Hopefully it'll be good when the votes get there.

 **Ichifell:** Glad you liked the pairing so much! I have to admit Zombina really did grow on me as well while I was writing the arc. Sorry I missed getting this up in May though D:

 **lightkirinhuruname** **:** Glad you liked it so much! Hope you like the next arcs just as much.

 **Hyperion52:** Luckily the next chapter is Rachnera. Though I must admit I'm not terribly sure I hit Rachnera's personality right. Glad you liked the last arc!

 **AnknRms:** Hope you didn't forget to vote also :P

 **GioM-Meow:** Glad you liked it! Hope this chapter lived up to your hype.

And last note, remember to vote! I see 66 follows for this story but we only have 35 votes! (Centorea is currently winning with Kii in second and Ms Smith in Third. Lots of other girls to vote for too if you don't want one of those three to win!)


	5. Chapter 5: Arrangement with an Arachne

**A/N:** Well, this took a significantly longer period of time then I was expecting to get out, and like the last chapter I'm not entirely sure I hit the 100% mark that I was aiming for, but I think I came in with a close 90%s somewhere. Still I am incredibly happy with the response In Spite of a Nail has gotten so far, so thank you to everyone who reads it and all Reviews, favs and follows I've gotten so far! As it is if you liked this chapter, saw something that needed to be improved, or just wanted to voice your opinion on it, please leave a review! Also as it has been so long, and I am planning to start on the next arc as this one's epilogue/spare scene collection is going to be relatively small if it does get one. So I've ended the Arc 3 poll and put up the Arc 4 poll (it should be visible by the time you are reading this). Cera is the winner and will be the star of our next arc. With Miss Smith, and Cathyl (Seriously, lots of support for her kinda came out of nowhere toward the end) being carryovers. The arc 4 votes pool is contains few 'Main' girls as we will have had two in a row by that point.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own DLWMG, and I would like to put a thank you to my editors Sammieo and The Ambiguous Briton for their continued help in making my writing presentable.

 **Lemon Warning:** This chapter contains not one, but two lemons, if you do not want to read them, please skip from where the Lemon Warnings are in the story, to where the Lemon Ended lines are.

* * *

 **Arc 2, Chapter 2: Arrangement with an Arachne**

Rachnera wasn't quite certain what she had expected living in with a boyfriend to be like, but somehow she felt she had hit the motherload with Kimihito. Well, she had already known it was probably going to be good after she had gotten to know him on their dates, but she had heard that people changed when at home. That was only partly true with Kimihito; at home, his eccentricities were just more pronounced.

She still couldn't say that she had expected to see a room full of 'at home' science stuff, but it wasn't too weird. There were only a couple of things that Kimihito wigged out over and begged her to not touch, and as time went and they got more comfortable with each other, he spent less time tinkering with them on his own. What was weirder was just how...domesticated Kimihito was. Rachnera was a housebody, and knew how to keep a place looking at least okay, but Kimihito was like some wonder god about domestic chores. He could cook, he could clean, he could do everything.

Even her room, which was the old master bedroom that Kimihito had given up to her , was perfectly spotless, save for the more obvious webs that ended up being left everywhere from when she made clothes or other things was all cleaned. Kimihito hadn't found her secret lines though, the ones she set up for whenever she felt the urge to bind him, an urge she got… Rather often. He was just so easy to tie up, and she was growing increasingly certain that he liked it when she did it to him.

The biggest downside was that she felt a bit...intrusive. With Ren's family she had been able to hang around the house without really cutting into anyone's schedules, as Ren's mother was almost always home. Kimihito on the other hand had to cut a good number of courses to make enough time to meet the requirements of the homestay programme, though he said he didn't mind doing so.

Though could she _really_ complain about having her boyfriend around more? No, not really. She still felt a bit bad about it, but the opportunities to tease Kimihito more than make up for it, and it wasn't like she was being a total load on him, with the homestay program providing a healthy stipend for taking him in. Still, the liminal couldn't help but feel there was more she could do.

She was trying to think it over as she spun herself a new outfit, situated in the living room and watching TV in the background as her fingers clicked away against each other. She was quite adept at it; the outfit had started as nothing more than an idea an hour ago, and it was already almost completed. It bore a significant resemblance to her usual attire, though a bit more conservative. Covering her breasts entirely, it also ran down her arms to the wrist. It was something of a test, as she was certain she was slowly ranging in on all Kimihito's hits and misses.

Rachnera was midway through the final weaves when her homestay stepped into the room from the kitchen. The black haired want-to-be scientist was holding some tea and snacks on a tray, and a warming smile on his face. "Hey Rachnee, thought you might want something to eat. Dinner is not going to be 'till after I get back from my class."

Did she mention that Kimihito had amazing cooking skills? Because if she hadn't, it very much bore repeating. Just the mention of dinner nearly caused her to drool a bit, distracting enough to very nearly made her miss her weave. She caught herself midway through the motion, and put the mistake right."Thanks, Honey, just set it on the table, I want to get this done before I have some."

The two had picked up their own pet names for each other, Kimihito had kinda started it with the conservative 'Rachnee' after he'd joked that she'd seemed more like a teasing older sister at the time then a girlfriend. Rachnera had gone for the much more blunt 'Honey' just a few moments after, and after the blushing response she'd gotten back kept using it at every opportunity.

She wasn't disappointed this time either, Kimihito blushed as he put the tray and cup on the table. "It's looking really good, Rachnee." There was a momentary light in the raven haired man's eye, and Rachnera grinned as she realized he was thinking how she would look with it on. "Though you know…" He put his hand to his chin in contemplation. "Have you ever considered selling your work? You're certainly skilled enough to do well as a special-order seller."

Rachnera paused for a moment, surprised she hadn't thought of it sooner. It was brilliant! She could use the money she made from the outfits to pay Kimihito back a bit, or at the very least take him out occasionally. Not to mention that it would keep her skills sharp, it wasn't like she needed a new outfit every other week.

"That's a great idea, Kimihito, I'll start that as soon as I finish this one." Rachnera gave a small grin, looking at her host and boyfriend. "Also make sure you finish your class quickly, I'm going to be done with this soon enough, and then I'm going to be...bored." The spider girl's smile grew a bit, and Kimihito gulped, the realization almost visible as it passed through his mind, suddenly aware that he'd probably not be touching the floor for a little while when he got home.

Still he nodded, and then excused himself, slipping out the door. After a moment's pause, he popped back into vision as he biked down the street, disappear again as he turned the first corner. "Mmmmm, maybe I should give him a bit of a reward for that little idea." The spider girl chuckled to herself with a rather more...perverse grin, even as her digits twisted and knitted the last strands of her outfit to completion.

 **-ISoaN-**

Kimihito leaned back in his seat, his class was taking a ten minute break so he was stretching out his back and neck. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ren was heading his way. For as much as the redheaded girl had practically foisted Rachnera on him, she was always worried about how the liminal was doing.

"Rachnera's fine Ren, just like yesterday, and the day before that." Kimihito half-groaned to the pig tailed girl as she came closer.

Ren responded with an non commital glare, before rolling her eyes. "I'm not here to ask about that, I'm actually wondering two things. One, can I get some of the notes from earlier? My attention slipped, and two, I was wondering how _you_ were doing. I mean you're still taking as many courses you can, and you're looking after Rachnera, and you don't have a car, and I know how much monstergirls eat, and-"

"It's fine Ren, it's going fine." Kimihito cut off the blabbering redhead, chuckling with a tired little smile. "It's a bit of running around and cooking is a bit difficult, but well, not like I'd dislike having my girlfriend staying at my house." He paused, the smallest hint of a blush sneaking across his cheeks. "Especially not Rachnera."

"Well, that's good." Ren sighed. "I was just worried, it's a lot of things for you to do all at the same time, and I kinda feel like I hoisted my problems on you."

"I would have a very difficult time calling Rachnera a problem. Now stop worrying Ren, it's all going well, and I'm not going to blame you even if things do end up getting a bit difficult for me."

"Well...okay then, but I have to help you somehow! Maybe I can help you more with your classes. That would at least be something!" Ren practically begged, and eventually Kimihito sighed and nodded.

"Okay, well, if you want you can stop by the house sometimes to help me with homework, or at the very least help me keep notes when I can't make it to classes or something." The black haired boy said in response, and Ren practically jumped in response.

"Great! I can take notes for you for the rest of class if you want! It's not like the teacher is talking over anything complicated today anyways."

"But… I-I don't have to leave..." He cocked his head, looking visibly confused.

Ren pulled Kimihito to his feet, hand him his backpack, pushing him out of the classroom. "Yes you do, get back to your girlfriend already! I'll hold the fort here."

Shoved out of the classroom, Kimihito pondered going back in for a moment, before shrugging, and heading out to where he parked his bike, and from there, back to his house. He couldn't help but admit he was a bit excited at the prospects that were at home.

 **-*Lemon begins here, skip to next bold if you do not wish to read*-**

Rachnera was mildly surprised to hear the door crack open, and immediately set down her near complete outfit. Glancing at the clock she saw that Kimihito wasn't supposed to be home for another half hour at best, and she hadn't seen anyone through the window. This all rang of something suspicious.

So as it was when she felt one of her wires trip, the spider girl was already prepared, and with a close of her hands she heard an incredibly brief 'wa' sound out from the main hall and felt her silk strands bind up whoever the intruder was.

Slinking out through the roof, she didn't even need to see her bindings to have an idea of the state she had left her target in, so she knew they wouldn't be able to see her up here. The spidergirl crawled along the ceiling, slipping out into the larger main hall, when she noticed who she caught.

She had to resist the urge to titer to herself, this was too great, she had Honey caught like a fly in her web, and she didn't even have to do anything. Instead she slunk along the ceiling, and then extended her legs until she was even with Kimihito's web covered cheek. "Mmmm, look what I have here. A little intruder."

Kimihito, given he was gagged, and the only part of him visible through the webbing was his eyes and part of his mouth, couldn't say anything except a muffled and pitable. "Mmmmph, phph."

"What's that? I couldn't quite hear you." Rachnera said, shifting her webbing just a bit so she could whisper into his ear, and she began nibbling on it. "Speak up or you'll be stuck like this."

"Mmmph!"

The nibbling grew a bit sharper, and Rachnera slipped her hand into the webbing to cut free both the webbing over his groin and, a moment later, his trousers, revealing that the scientist wasn't anywhere near turned off by the encounter. "Not speaking up anywhere near enough."

"Mmmmmmph!"

"A~and too late now." Rachnera grinned, and twisted the silk again, leaving Kimihito with his arms tied behind his back, his legs tied together, and pointed straight upright, his now exposed member standing proud and straight, spare the occasional twitch. With a dangerous smile on her face, the spidergirl held herself above him. "Look at this, so eager to be tied up like a little fly? So~o eager to be wrapped up and used by a spidergirl?"

Kimihito shook a bit against the bindings, but well...given how hard he was, he _really_ couldn't say he wasn't eager about this. Especially since this was significantly farther than Rachnera's usual; 'tie him up in a provocative position and leave him there for a while' routine.

"Heh, trying to struggle now? Bit late for that when you're already wrapped up you know." Rachnera shifted sliding herself so that she was practically looking at him over his own shaft. "Mmm, wonder how you taste little fly."

Before Kimihito could even begin to process why that turned him on so much, he was introduced to the pleasure of a spidergirl's skilled tongue and mouth. Licking, sucking, all while keeping Kimihito bound so tight he could barely move an inch even in his strongest jerks. He could feel tension building within him, much faster than he would have liked to admit, but really, he had nothing he could compare to this incredible pleasure.

Then, just as he was about to go over the edge, the feeling stopped, reduced to just warm breath onto his painfully hard shaft, and Rachnera's voice would cut through his thoughts. "Mmmm, actually, I'll have all the time I could want to savour your taste, but for now...let's skip to the main course shall we?"

With that Rachnera picked herself up once more, and crawled forward, trailing her tongue along Kimihito's pinned form, until she was nibbling on his neck. "Hope you are ready Honey, this will be...fun." Dragging herself further up, she pulled him into a deep kiss even as she untied her loincloth, revealing a dripping human pussy just where her human side met it's arachnid counterpart.

"Heh, to think tying you up and teasing you would get me this wet… Maybe I'm even more of a freak then I thought." Rachnera grinned as she broke the kiss, before making the last shift to join them. Kimihito's heated member pressed against her own, needy petals, and a moment's hesitation passed through her. Was she _really_ willing to take this last step, one that while Kimihito might have forgotten, she was quite aware, was illegal by those silly laws?

After a moment's pause she mentally slapped herself. She was Rachnera Arachnera dammit! She would not be having second thoughts, especially not when she was in the middle of dominating the only human that had actually been unfailingly nice to her the entire time she was in Japan. Not to mention the two had been living together for nearly two months now, and had been dating for even longer than that. If she wasn't ready now she'd probably never be.

Still...there was one thing to do first.

Kimihito, meanwhile, was waiting with baited breath, the anticipation was absolutely killing him, to say nothing of the fact that Rachnera's last little shift had stuck her breasts directly into his face, and the gag mixed with her heavenly soft mounds were doing a very solid job of suffocating him. He was about to start struggling again when Rachnera seemed to wake from her pause, and pulled back just a bit to give him air. He wasn't able to be relieved though, because he felt webbing spin around the base of his member.

"Mmmm, I felt you twitching. We can't have you going off before I've had my fill can we Honey?" Rachnera's voice was sickly sweet as the webbing drew tight, just a moment before the spiderwoman dropped down and took him in entirely. She barely even paused for her own hymen breaking, though she did bite her tongue as the pain passed through her, giving herself a moment to adjust before it faded away. Monstergirls were not exactly ones to have to worry about truly painful first times.

She was thinking of something good to say to her pinned lover, when she realized she was already talking. "You know, despite how big I am, I don't think I've ever felt this full before." Well...not everything she had to say had to be great.

Not giving Kimihito a chance to think on that little embarrassing admission, she'd start to ride him, or more specifically, use her webbing to drive them together without even having to move a muscle. The webs tightening and slackening to set a slow and deliberate pace, letting herself enjoy the feeling of Kimihito rubbing against her inner walls, and while she didn't actually realize it, her body was adjusting, fitting itself to make Kimihito's member a better fit for her large size. All she would recognize was that each time her skin met her black haired lover's, she'd feel even more pleasure than the last.

Speaking of her black haired Honey though, the boy was writhing in her bindings, and she could probably tell why. They had barely even started and he was twitching desperately inside her, but she wasn't about to let him go until she herself was ready to climax, though by happy coincidence his twisting and turning was helping hit some of her much more sensitive spots by pure accident.

Despite her best attempts to keep her voice level, her words came out as something much closer to a moan then anything else. "Keep that up Honey, if you want me to let you finish."

The two continued at their passionate, web-aided embrace, Rachnera speeding up their pace with every passing minute as she continued to work herself toward a climax, and soon enough she started to feel the tension building in her body. Her breath began to come in pants, and she had to bite her tongue to keep it from sliding past her lips in a shameful, lust drenched expression.

What she couldn't keep herself from doing though, was setting a pace just short of hip shattering as the tension continued to mount, nearly blanking everything out of her mind, before suddenly every muscle in her body crashed tense at once. A loud cry escaped her lips as she clamped down on Kimihito, and her squeezed fist cut the silk thread she had been using to keep her pent-up boyfriend from going off himself.

Rachnera was not ready for the deluge of warmth that filled her and she practically climaxed again at the feeling of Kimihito filling her, but eventually all things had to come to an end and the glorious release settled to a bright afterglow.

She had been just about to start again when she looked down and saw Kimihito. The man half looked like his spirit had departed as he lay limp in the webbing, but before she could panic she realised, much to her relief, he was still breathing, albeit slowly. Judging by the even more blank look in his eyes then usual however, she may have held him back just a pinch too much...

"Heh, well, lesson learned." She said as she pulled off of him and shifted so she could give him a kiss on the lips, followed by a light slap on the cheeks to get him back to reality. "We'll just have to work on your stamina won't we?" Then her smile turned teasing. "For now though, I think you mentioned something about dinner being ready for when you got back?"

 **-*Lemon has finished*-**

Kimihito was sore, extremely sore. After he had been let down to cook dinner, he had had just enough time to finish cooking and eating when he had been tied back up again, and Rachnera had introduced him to the stamina and need of a monstergirl that had just lost their virginity.

So now he was trying to bike his way to school while he could hardly feel his legs. Or his groin... Or his hips for that matter. He would have to toughen himself up in the future, or be a cripple by the time he turned forty.

Still, he could not complain. He had heard horror stories about first times, but well… It seemed that didn't apply to monstergirls, or perhaps it was just Rachnera. Either way it had been a night to remember, and he wasn't going to deny he was looking forward to the next time.

In that same breath, Kimihito had to try to hide his injuries as best he could, he had no idea if Smith and her group were watching, and he had only remembered that morning that well… The last night was firmly in the bounds of 'illegal' as far as the current laws were concerned, and if they were caught then Rachnera was going to get deported at best, and himself arrested _and_ her deported at worst. As such, he would keep going, hiding the bruises as best he could as he continued toward school.

Little did he know he really didn't need to worry.

 **-ISoaN-**

A few blocks away, on a tall apartment building, five women were sitting. One looking through the scope of a sniper rifle, one through a pair of binoculars, and the other three were busy having a card game around a portable table. The one with the binoculars would have been a familiar face to Kimihito, given it was Ms. Smith.

"Heh, look at that. Seems like Rachnera really did a number on him. The tapes didn't do it justice." Smith said with a laugh to herself. "He's probably freaking out."

"U-Ummm, I still t-think we shouldn't have those c-cameras in his house…" The girl at the sniper rifle said as she stepped back from her weapon.

One of the other girls, who sported a collection of stitching and oddly coloured skin, chuckled, and played a card, while the dark skinned, silver haired girl across from her asked. "Why aren't we enforcing the law with them again?"

"Well…" Smith rubbed the back of her head. "We kinda screwed up with Rachnera's first placement." The agent cocked her head to one side, grimacing at thought of having to report any of this debacle to her superiors. The expression passed, and she chuckled."Not to mention, it's adorable, and no one can say no to whatever Tio finds adorable… So we'll let them have their fun, the laws are going to change any day now anyways, legal snafus as big as this rarely stick around for long. For now…" Smith checked her phone, building up the tension as the others leaned in, expecting some work. "Let's get lunch." Their collective sigh of relief was only slightly dulled by the irate shout of a tenant below telling them to get off the roof.

 **-ISoaN-**

Another month on, and two things changed for the homestay couple. First, Kimihito no longer needed to spend a day or two recovering after every bout of evening 'exercise' with his spider-girlfriend. Second, he received a notification in the mail that included a list of changed laws.

He skimmed, growing increasingly stuck between tense and excited as he scanned the bullet points, pausing on one, vital line, hiding innocently, half-way down the document between a section on homestay stipends in southern prefectures, and a note on proper care of temperature-sensitive liminals in the coming winter.

'27b - The definition of physical harm as pertaining to the aforementioned law, has been changed to give special exception to intercourse.'.

Kimihito, who had been downstairs cooking breakfast when the letter had arrived, half-sprinted up the staircase, only to find that Rachnera wasn't in their room. "Rachnera?"

"In...here, Honey." Rachnera's voice answered from the bathroom down the hall, sounding much worse for ware, which had Kimihito coming a running.

Sliding to the bathroom door he looked in and said. "Rachnera, are you-"

"No Honey...ugh. I am definitely not okay." Rachnera cut him off, the spider girl was leaning over the toilet, and had obviously been having a bout of nausea. Kimihito didn't even say anything and just moved over to give Rachnera a half hug as he waited for her to recover.

It would be a few minutes later when Rachnera seemed to gain a bit of colour to her already normally pale cheeks, and she'd give Kimihito a tired smile as she stood back up. "Thanks Honey, but I think I might need to pass on breakfast...I don't think my stomach is going to agree with me being hungry…"

"Should we go to the doctors?" Kimihito sounded worried, liminals were extremely hardy, and if Rachnera was sick it was likely something serious.

Said spidergirl was about to say that she was fine, but...she could see the look in his eyes. He really was worried for her, and it made her feel nice inside even if she didn't quite let it show. Instead she just sighed. "Okay, we should probably call Smith, they have to have a clinic or something set up for something like this..."

"I'll go make the call, you just go back to bed and rest." Kimihito said with a bit of command in his tone, and Rachnera couldn't help but chuckle a bit as she half-stumbled back towards the bedroom, wondering just what she had come down with.

 **-ISoaN-**

"Pregnant!?" Rachnera half shouted, before slamming her hands over her mouth, hoping that Kimihito hadn't heard her through the walls of the clinic.

The doctor, a professional looking catgirl adjusted her glasses and said. "Yes, it looks like you are about a month along. I should probably report you since it was before the law change," She paused as Rachnera's face fell, a cheeky smile crossing the MD's face. "But maybe just this once we can stretch that patient-doctor confidentiality thing. Either way, I'd prefer to say, congratulations!"

Rachnera was shellshocked. "...I….thank you?" The spidergirl was in a daze at the news, though there was a sickening sense of alarm rising through her, before she quashed it with a shake of her head. She wouldn't let herself fall into panic, she was better than that!

"I'll just go out and tell your boyfriend if that is fine with you?" The doctor 'asked' as she was already starting to open the door.

The panic shot back up to near bursting in Rachnera and the catgirl found herself yanked away from the door by a string of webbing. "W-wait. L-let me just collect my thoughts first."

"That's perfectly understandable, miss Arachnera, take all the time you need." The doctor sat down on her chair, waiting for the spider girl to prepare herself.

Rachnera took a fair bit longer to collect herself then she really would ever admit. Externally, she managed to keep herself looking calm enough that the catgirl seemed to be surprised that she wasn't ready to talk to Kimihito yet. Internally though Rachnera was terrified about telling her boyfriend, how would he take it? Would he end up finding some way to send her back home…

Again she mentally slapped herself, she would not think so low of Kimihito! Looking to the doctor she'd nod, not trusting her mouth still enough to actually say anything. Then she'd take a deep breath and wait, still a hint of worry.

She needn't have concerned herself, as just a few seconds later Kimihito had seemingly materialized in the room, yanking her into a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry Rachnera! I should have worn protection or...something! But don't worry, I'll take responsibility!"

Rachnera remained silent for a moment, before beginning to chuckle, which turned into a full blown laugh as relief flooded through her. The idea that she had even doubted Kimihito for a moment, now amusing to her. She hugged the raven haired man back, voice soft and soothing "No need to apologize, though I might not be so forgiving in a few months when I'm all big and swollen."

"Well, don't worry I'll take care of you both, though uhh, is there going to be...anything unusual happening?" The last bit was directed more toward the doctor, Kimihito trying to plan ahead.

"Nothing too different than a normal human pregnancy, though Rachnera should be able to move around much better than humans can…" She paused, something suddenly coming to mind, the catgirl slapping herself on the forehead for forgetting. "Oh! Before I forget. It will only last six months, not nine." The pair nodded, and a few minutes later the two now turned three... Or more, were on their way home.

 **-ISoaN-**

At the house, a bemused Rachnera would found herself in the living room, which had since been populated by an enormous footrest, though it was so large that it now served much more as a chair for the spidergirl then an ottoman.

Kimihito meanwhile, was trying to make her as comfortable as possible.

"Kimihito." She said quietly.

The raven haired boy was moving in a flurry of motion as he brought food, water, pillows, everything.

"Kimihito..." Rachnera said a bit louder.

Kimihito was about to head out of the room to grab something else for her, until Rachnera caught him with a thread and held him still.

"Kimihito! I'm fine." Rachnera finally said with a slightly raised tone as she pulled Kimihito right back to her like a yo-yo, catching him in a hug that kept him from going anywhere, and landed his head between her breasts. "Now just sit here and be a good teddybear got it? I still think the idea of me having an egg growing in me is settling in."

"Yeah, it's definitely not what I was expecting to hear any time soon, but ummm... I can't say if I'm sure if it's bad news you know?" Kimihito said uncertainly as he settled into the embrace.

Rachnera took a moment to consider what he said, before resting her chin on his head. "Yeah, though I would have prefered if it hadn't happened so soon. It's a good thing Mom isn't around, she'd probably make what I do to you look tame as revenge."

Kimihito gulped and made a note to self to banish the mental image that put in his head, sometime later…

"Mmmmm, I guess I've broken you in a bit faster than I thought Honey." Rachnera said with a small chuckle, and Kimihito felt himself being poked somewhere intimate. "But I'm not quite feeling up to that for now, so stop tempting me will you?"

 **-*Lemon begins here, skip to next bold if you do not wish to read*-**

A few weeks later, Kimihito would learn something that most men across the world have learned at some point in their lives. Namely, that looking after a pregnant significant other was significantly harder than you would expect. Especially when you were also planning a… Surprise in the wings.

At the moment, he was dealing with one of Rachnera's cravings. Namely for…'protein.'

In short, it meant he was currently naked, hanging from the rafters in a teardrop of webbing, with Rachnera, sporting a mildly rounded belly, making her way down from the ceiling toward him.

The spidergirl's sultry voice graced Kimihito's ears, shivers it induced visible as the webbing quivered. "Mmmm, I hope you're ready Honey, I'm ve~ery hungry."

Kimihito couldn't respond, and it wasn't just because of how bad he was at dirty talk. Rachnera really did like her gags. He was ready though, as ready as he could be anyways, this was just another incident that all that 'training' with Rachnera before was for. He braced himself, exhaling slowly as he controlled his breathing.

His stoicism lasted what could be measured in microseconds after Rachnera's warm lips wrapped around his tip, just like every other time. One day he'd manage to not break under his girlfriend's incredible native skill, but today was not that day.

Rachnera chuckled at Kimihito's groan, the spidergirl had to admit, being pregnant gave some serious advantages. She could hide just about anything behind a craving, and she was making use of that as much as she could get away with, especially with regards to getting Kimihito all tied up and at her mercy. Mostly because she had found she quite...liked her boyfriend's taste.

Dropping down Kimihito's member, circling her tongue over the tip, Rachnera grinned to herself. Kimihito really was too adorable for his own good. He probably would have gotten her the moon if she asked,. Anything she had requested he'd thus far found a way to get, and she had been tempted to abuse it more than she already was, but couldn't bring herself to do it. She was getting enough 'training' time with Kimihito that she thought that the raven haired man would be able to survive when her mother showed up, which was very much now a 'when' not an 'if'.

For now though, she let that thought float away, instead preferring to focus on servicing Kimihito to the best of her ability. The relentless teasing was doing quite a number on the bound man, the arachne could feel Kimihito twitching against the roof of her mouth, and she knew what was about to come. All it took was just one more lick and she was provided with the protein she was 'craving.' The warm semi-liquid rolling its way down her throat as she milked Kimihito for all he was worth.

And that would just be the first time of many that night.

 **-*Lemon has finished*-**

"Kimihito, is it just me or are you looking more...desiccated than normal?" Ren asked, sitting across from the previously mentioned man at a lab table. The experiment was quite simple, so neither of them really needed to focus on it too much.

Ren was right though, Kimihito was looking just a bit... Dried out, for lack of a better term. His cheeks were gaunt, and he was a little paler than usual, to say nothing of the small bags which were forming under his eyes. Ren had what she thought was an idea, but she really didn't want to put it to words, so she'd let Kimihito do that for her.

"Rachnera is being a bit more, well, her, then usual." Kimihito said with an amused sigh. "But I'm fine. I just need to drink more."

"Hmm? What's gotten into Her?" Ren asked, her suspicions confirmed.

While Ren had been right, she had absolutely no idea about the rather important part, namely that Rachnera was pregnant. Kimihito had never really gotten around to telling her, mostly because of how busy he was with Rachnera. He had only been able to see his friend at school, and even then was only attending the bare minimum of classes anyways.

Kimihito looked around, and saw that they were practically the last group left in the lab, so he figured he could tell her now. Scratching the back of his neck he searched for a way to explain the situation without just awkwardly blurting it out. After a moment's pause, and finding nothing, he just visibly braced himself, and in a deadpan voice said. "Well...Rachnera's pregnant."

There was a moment's pause as Ren's eyes widened almost comically, before her enormous voice bellowed out the last thing he'd be capable of hearing for a few minutes.

"WHAT?!"

Once his hearing returned, the ringing in his ears went away, and the car-alarm outside the window stopped, , Kimihito found himself bombarded with question after question, mostly along the veins of "When did that happen!?"

The raven haired boy waited until the barrage was finally done, unable to find even the smallest gap where he could cut in and answer during the confused tirade.

"Four months ago now, we're expecting within the next two, though uhh, I wouldn't come stop by our house. Rachnera is likely to just pull you into her webs."

Ren took a moment to ponder it, and a blush passed over her face as she considered what Kimihito meant, before she frowned and asked apprehensively. "Well, you're planning to marry her right? Right?"

"I-I'm not sure." Kimihito returned nervously. "I got a ring and everything... But can I really do this?"

Ren's eyes narrowed a bit as she realized what Kimihito was getting up, but before she could say anything Kimihito started talking more.

"I'm not even out of university for god's sake! I don't have a job, I have no hopes of getting a job for another few years at this rate. I'm able to look after Rachnera thanks to her contributing to the house funds and what the government gives me, but if I marry her then we're going to lose the government funds, and that's just considering us two. How am I ever going to provide for our kid as well?"

That had been entirely said in seemingly a single breath, and Ren's eyes narrowed further, before she slapped him on the back of the head, quite hard. "Quit that! You're overthinking it Kimihito! You're a smart guy, you'll be able to find work easily once you're out of uni, and I'm sure you can figure something out before then!"

"But I've looked Ren, all the jobs either have too much time requirement, or they're volunteer work which doesn't help and-."

"What did I just say!" Another hit, and Kimihito would stop ranting and actually cower a bit at the look on Ren's face. "You're a man right? Then suck it up and work through it! You'll find something."

Kimihito was losing the stamina to argue with her. Ren could be inspiring when she wanted to be. Not at all a permanent solution, but very uplifting all the same. Ah, perhaps another time... "Maybe I can find a way to make this work. Though now I just need to find a good time to ask her."

The last bit there would earn Kimihito a light slap on the top of his sore head, followed by a few others. "You _will_ find a way to make this work. You're Kimi-motherfucking-hito." Ren beamed at him with something that the boy and girl did not often show each other - a tender admiration. He beheld that redhead's look for a pleasant while.

Then she slapped him lightly twice more.

"And it's always a good time to ask Rachnera! Do it today! After the lab, before you end up getting nervous and delay or something!"

Kimihito pulled back from the mostly-playful blow, and put his hands in front of him defensively. "H-Hey! Fine I'll ask her tonight, just stop hitting me!"

"Good, and you better tell me how it goes without waiting four months first this time!"

 **-ISoaN-**

Kimihito gulped as he stood at his own doorway. The box in his pocket, transferred there from where it had been in his bag before, felt like a lead weight as he reached up for the doorknob, and tentatively turned it. Keeping his pace slow as he tried to avoid getting caught up in Rachnera's webs.

Months of training having managed to let him spot the threads out just a little bit, given the right light, and he was able to get the door closed without being tied up, before he'd shout into the house. "Rachnera? I'm home. How's it going?"

"Ohh is that you Honey? I didn't hear the door." Rachnera's voice drifted back from the living room. She poked her head into the hall, followed a moment later by the rest of her body. For some rather confusing reason of biology the egg Rachnera was baring didn't move into her spider half until more or less just before the birth, so her human side's belly was quite swollen, and it made maneuvering around even harder for the woman, though in a minor side benefit the spiderwoman's already large breasts had swollen even further thanks to milk that the child wouldn't need for some time.

Kimihito tried not to focus on that, and, after just a moment of failing, switched his attention back to his love's face. "I have a surprise for you."

-MEANWHILE-

On the far side of town, five women were glued to a monitor, a monitor that was displaying an image from one of the tiny cameras the in the Kurusu residence. The first was leering in because they were enamoured with the words Kimihito was saying, as they could tell just where this was going much to their giddiness. The second because it was like being a voyeur; she felt bad about it but she just couldn't look away. The third, because she had gotten into it like it was a daytime soap opera. The fourth because she was secretly hoping she would get to see Kimihito, for example, fall flat on his face and fail in the middle of his proposal.

The last was Ms. Smith, who was rubbing her hands together and chuckling half-evilly and half-happily. Her odd reaction only increased when Kimihito dropped to his knee, and they heard over the camera's microphone. "Rachnera, would you marry me?"

Tio, the girl glued to the monitor because of the incredibly romantic sight, squealed at the words, and fell into unconsciousness bliss when Rachnera responded with an emphatic. "Yes" a moment before the spider girl pulled the black haired boy into a powerful hug and deep kiss.

The monitor switched off at that point, as a dissatisfied Dopple pouted. "Damn, and here I was hoping he'd make a fool of himself or something."

Ms. Smith though, was still laughing to herself. "Ohh this is great, with the first Human-Monster marriage happening with one of my charges is going to get me that raise for sure this time! Finally!"

 **-ISoaN-**

Wedding planning between the nerdy Kimihito, and the homebody Rachnera, was surprisingly simple compared to the average wedding, as they had decided to conduct a shinto wedding instead of a western one on Rachnera's insistence of all things. As such, there was only a very limited selection of invitations to be sent out, and Rachnera wanted to provide her own kimono for the event, and one for Kimihito as well, so costs were pretty much nothing.

So as it was, it was barely a few weeks after Kimihito's proposal, that both the black haired boy, clad in a deep blue kimono made out of Rachnera's silk, an item that he would probably keep forever given how well made it was, and Rachnera, clad in a pure, nearly blinding, white kimono made from the same, along with a white paper hat, were walking to the altar behind a kitsune shrine maiden who seemed much too young for the job.

Behind the two was a very small collection of humans, and a single arachne, though it was that monstergirl that drew the most attention out of the congregation. The large spiderwoman had arrived just an hour before the ceremony due to her flight being delayed, and Kimihito had gotten to meet the liminal that was going to be his mother in law only for a minute or two before the ceremony had begun, and had been quite terrified.

Nomiki Arachnera was like Rachnera, if you took out Rachnera's softness and replaced it in it's entirety with teasing sadism. The meeting had literally been nothing more than an introduction, and just the smile Nomiki had sported would have been enough to confirm for him that the woman was 'dangerous', even if Rachnera hadn't warned him ahead of time about her mother's tendency to be a manbreaker.

The other four members of the small group that made up the congregation, was both of Kimihito's parents, who had taken the time off there work to fly back to see their son get married, though they had actually been on the same flight Nomiki had been on, which caused the two to cast semi-frightened glances back at the spiderwoman, having briefly thought she was following them as they disembarked at the airport, and at her daughter that Kimihito was marrying.

The last two were Miss Smith, there by government requirement as part of her duty as Rachnera's coordinator, and Ren, who had been the matchmaker in the two's relation and thus was granted a spot in the wedding ceremony.

Kimihito himself was taking deep breaths as he walked toward the altar ahead, both to keep his nerves down, and to help keep his attention from being lost looking at Rachnera's kimono-clad form. Even her belly swollen with their daughter was not even a minor detriment to her appearance, to Kimihito it was just made her look even more beautiful. It really wouldn't do for him to end up stumbling to a dumbstruck stop if he turned his head just a bit too much and lost himself.

Rachnera meanwhile was taking her own deep breaths, causing her large chest to strain against her kimono much to Kimihito's consternation. The spidergirl was nervous like her fiance, but she was also nervous for another reason, namely she could _feel_ her mother's gaze boring into her and Kimihito's back. She knew after the ceremony she was going to have to be on her toes if she wanted to keep the woman from making a move on her husband.

Soon enough the two reached the altar, and followed through the priest's purifications and readings, and watched through the shrine maidens dance before it became time to exchange the cups. Kimihito felt giddy as they went through the ceremony stage-by-stage, the half lidded look Rachnera gave him when the priest wasn't looking sending a shiver through his spine.

Finally came the vow, and Kimihito had to take a moment to get his lungs working again before he spoke, saying in one way what innumerable men before him had said in countless others.. "We make this marriage vow respectfully before the Hikawa deity. We Kimihito Kurusu and Rachnera Kurusu are delighted to be able to make our vows on this great day, and to become husband and wife through the blessing of the Hikawa deity. We swear before the Hikawa deity to love and respect each other forever, and to strive to bring our family prosperity. Moreover, we swear never to veer from the true path of matrimony, and to work to share the divine grace of Hikawa deity by helping people and society."

Kimihito added a quick thanks to Ren for bringing the two together, causing the redhead to bounce a little bit on her feet from where she was standing in the congregation.

With the vow finished, the offering passed by in a haze of happiness., Iif asked, Kimihito would have forgotten it even happened, as the next thing he remembered was slipping their wedding ring onto one of Rachnera's armoured fingers, and the few members of the congregation shared in rice wine with eachother, with Ren being accounted as part of Rachnera's family much to her own discomfort.

There was no reception planned, Kimihito's parents, a friendly looking man with a goatee and a mousy looking woman, were only able to hang around for an hour or so after the ceremony before they would have to fly back to Europe for their work. Still, that was more than enough time for Kimihito to introduce them properly to their new daughter in law.

"Mom, Dad, I know it's a bit awkward but I'd like to introduce you properly to Rachnera." Kimihito said as he approached the two with a smile on his face. Rachnera was smiling just as blissfully behind him, and the two elder Kurusus were able to dissociate her from her mother thanks to that.

"Heh, I wish we could have met before this Rachnera, but welcome to the family." Mr. Kurusu said with a grin and a half bow. "Though I guess you and Kimihito did not have long to wait did you?" He added as he straightened out, it was rather hard to miss Rachnera's belly afterall.

Mrs. Kurusu meanwhile was busy yanking on Kimihito's ear despite her delicate appearance. "I can't believe I raised a boy that would wait until his girlfriend was pregnant before he married her!"

"M-Mom!" Kimihito started to complain, before Rachnera would provide his rescue with a cough.

"Mmmm, it was my fault Honey got me pregnant before he had the opportunity to, technically, we weren't even legally allowed to get married when this happened…" Rachnera said with a nervous chuckle, not quite sure just how much she wanted to let the parents in on, so she'd quickly change the subject when Mrs. Kurusu let go of Kimihito's ear. "As for how long, I will be laying the egg before the end of the month most likely, and it will be another two after that until she's born."

"We will have to see about getting that time off. With a bit more forewarning we can probably get a week or two off instead of just a day." Mr. Kurusu said with a nod. "I think we'd both like to be there when our granddaughter is born."

"Granddaughter." Mrs. Kurusu said almost reverently, before shaking her head. "I can't believe I'm saying that already! I'm not that old."

"Mmmm, and how do you think I feel?" Another voice, one tinted with a hint of danger said into the conversation, and a moment later Nomiki would step up to the group. "I have a granddaughter and I'm not even forty yet. I was expecting to have a few more daughters before I had a granddaughter. Though maybe I can fill that with these two"

The laugh that followed from Nomiki along with the lustful look at both male Kurusus, was enough to put the three humans on edge a bit, and caused Rachnera to glare at her mother. "Mom, don't talk like that about my Honey! Or about his dad!"

"Tip number ten my dear daughter. No matter how many men you've caught in your web, you shouldn't give up on finding some more." Nomiki said with a grin, and both Rachnera and Mrs. Kurusu put themselves between the spider woman and their respective husbands.

Luckily it was at that point that the taxis arrived to take Mr and Mrs. Kurusu to the airport, and Nomiki to her hotel, Rachnera having insisted that the elder Arachnera not stay at their house.

Just as the taxis were pulling away, Kimihito felt a different presence behind him, and the two would turn and see Ms. Smith, who'd been comfortably emptying her glass for a time, standing there with an envelope in her hand, and a smirk on her face. "A little redheaded birdy told me you were in need of some work Kimihito. Lucky for you I'm a caring supervisor." She chuckled at her own joke, and handed him the envelope. "Job details are in there, we can take you on part time as an assistant. Thanks to you two getting married, my department's budget got quite the expansion, so we can afford to pay you pretty well. Just-"

Whatever Ms. Smith was about to say next was cut off when Kimihito bowed low, "Thank you." He practically shouted with eagerness, before straightening back up. "I'll accept whatever work you can give me."

Rachnera looked a bit confused, but shrugged, she could always ask him about it later. As it was Ren was just coming over to give her congratulations to the couple.

 **-ISoaN-**

Two months later, Rachnera, Kimihito, Ren, both elder Kurusus and Nomiki were all collected in the younger Kurusu's living room. The boy and his wife were sitting on the couch as Rachnera's egg, which was shaking on its own accord in the arachne's arms with Kimihito looking on, neared hatching. Ren and the elder Krususus were on the other couch with Kimihito's parents, who managed to actually get a whole month off work and had arrived the day before. All the better to spend time with their son and his new family.

Nomiki had become a semi regular appearance at the Kurusu household, along with ever increasingly, Ren. The elder Arachnera had decided she liked Japan, and had moved into a house a few blocks away, where she made regular attempts to convince Rachnera to share Kimihito for an evening or two. That said attempts had succeeded once or twice only egged her on more.

Ren, meanwhile, had taken to beating her phobia through exposure, and as such had made it her goal to become actual friends with Rachnera, and had started to come over to visit with her former homestay a few times a week. Perhaps it was a good thing she didn't find the determination to do so while the spiderwoman lived under her roof and not Kimihito's.

It was a stroke of luck that all of them had been at the house at the same time the egg had started to hatch. They were just talking about their favourite things to drink when the silk ball that it was hidden inside started to tear in Rachnera's grip, exposing a chitin covered leg, followed by a few other legs that would cut the silk with growing strength.

At last, after moments of baited-breath and tension, the entire thing unraveled and revealed a small arachne child, six bright red eyes as solid as her mother's, black tufts of hair like her father, and a black carapace with a small...skull and crossbones like shape of all thing on the spider abdomen.

And so Katerina Kurusu was born.

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 **A/N 2:** Also, random shoutout to the multiple whoevers are reading my story from the Holy See. That was honestly the last place I was expecting to show up on my location feed, even moreso that 3 different people read the story from there.


	6. Chapter 6: Afterword for Arachnes

**A/N:** Well, I told you all it would be a short epilogue, but in exchange you get it so soon after the main story! That and my editors were very on the ball so thanks to them once again. Looks like Ms. Smith's off to an early lead with Cathyl and Oct in second, so if you haven't voted and don't want a Ms. Smith Arc after Cera's, then go to my profile and vote! As always, like, hate, see something you want to comment on? Leave a review!

 **Disclaimer:** Still don't own.

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 **Arc 2 Epilogue:** **Afterword for Arachnes**

Life had been quite nice to Kimihito after he had made it through that tumultuous time that was Rachnera's pregnancy, and shortly thereafter followed by a second pregnancy almost immediately after, resulting in dear Kyveli Rachnera being born just six months after their equally beloved Katerina had hatched, leaving them a family of two daughters, a wife, and a practically live-in mother-in-law to come home to every day.

Yet despite having three dependents, he didn't worry about pretty much anything. Really, the only thing that could concern him drastically on any given day was how his daughters were doing in school. After all, it really wouldn't do for a daughter of one of the MBI's head researchers to do poorly in her grades.

Kimihito hadn't ever gotten his doctorate. As soon as he had gotten his bachelors a very odd man with snow white hair and large glasses had picked him out of the crowd and offered him a lucrative job working for his company. He had been suspicious at first, as most of the staff seemed to be devoted to some 'Sekirei' project, but it turned out to be right up his alley. He was in the department that was researching entomonliminals (bug monsterpeople) for the government. It was great, he got to spend all day examining the cutting edge of entomology. From how strong beetlepeople's carapaces were, to how wasppeople were able to fly on their wings, to the actual maximum strength of arachne silk. He got to bring Rachnera into work occasionally under the pretense of the aforementioned research and he made in more than enough money to support himself, his wife, his kids, and his practically live-in mother-in-law.

It did keep him out of the house a bit more often than he'd have liked, though. While both Rachnera and Nomiki insisted that arachne children needed to be given more independence than human children... well, any advice from Nomiki was suspect at best and he couldn't be sure Rachnera hadn't been tainted in that regard. Just because arachnids were accustomed to it didn't mean that humans were. All the time Rachnera was pregnant he thought of the days he'd spend walking them through the park and telling them about the world - not arriving home late at night to see them too sleepy to say a thing. He dreamt of hugging Katerina on her birthday and telling her to make a wish before blowing out the candles on her birthday cake - not telling Rachnera over the phone that he wouldn't be able to make it for the birthday party after all. Not to mention his daughters were adorable, and he was a father. How could he not want to spend time raising them?

So as it was, every day after he came home from work, he'd spend half the evening helping his daughters with their homework. The eleven year old Katerina and ten year old Kyveli were in the same school year despite their slight age difference, so he could teach them both in the one sitting, which was about the time he had to spare in the evenings anyway. These cram-sessions meant so much to Kimihito - it was the least he could do to show his children he cared. He always wanted to do more, but most days it was all he had time for.

Presently, Kimihito was helping Kyveli. The spider girl was a bit larger than her sister despite being a bit younger, and his genes had won out differently with her then they had with Katerina. Instead of his raven black hair like her sister, the youngest Kurusu had her father's solid brown eyes. She had inherited her mother's interesting mindset though, and was prone to tying Kimihito up at the most random times in the name of 'practice.'

Katerina on the other hand was much more like Kimihito, a smart mind that always wanted to learn more, though with a much more tinkering bent then her scientist father. The adorable black haired spider girl had already finished her homework, and had started disassembling every pen in the area while Kimihito continued to help her sister.

"Okay, so carry the five, then add these two together and you're done!" Kimihito said with a bit of flourish as he walked Kyveli through the last step. The lilac haired spidergirl tapping her fingers on the table as she wrote the last answer.

"Why do I have to do this again? I don't even want to go into math." Kyveli complained with a sigh, before pushing back from the table. "And don't start on that 'It'll be helpful later' nonsense. Grandma says that she's never needed math in her life."

"Yes well, Nomiki is not exactly an ideal role model." Kimihito said with a sigh. If only he could do more to counterset her influence.

Katerina nodded. "Yeah, Grandma doesn't even do anything, she just lounges about the house eating Mom and Dad's stuff."

"Exactly! She doesn't have to do anything and she gets free food and everything. Who wouldn't want that?" Kyveli grinned with an arrogance only a father could forgive before skittering off into the living room with her elder sister following behind.

"Kyveli!" Katerina's scolding and sensible voice echoed throughout the house. "You shouldn't think that way! You should try to become a productive member of society." Kimihito chuckled happily at his children's antics. He was just elated to see them grow.

"Mou, I do not just sit around and leech off you two without doing any work." Nomiki's voice came in and a moment later Kimihito felt some weights resting on his shoulders, and they definitely were too soft to be arms. "After all, I help Rachnera keep you in tip top physical shape."

"Yeah...I really don't know if that counts…" Kimihito said awkwardly. While Rachnera had picked up full time work, running her own small custom outfits shop, Nomiki really did just laze around the house most days. Occasionally she'd take the girls out somewhere but half the time that was worse then when she just didn't do anything, as she had a tendency to take the girls to wildly inappropriate places.

The last time had involved her trying to get the two into a coffee shop so she could teach them about her favourite drinks.

Still, she was about as possible to get rid of as it was possible to completely cure the common cold,so Kimihito had grown used to her presence.

That acceptance had absolutely nothing to do with her growing occasions of staying overnight. Nothing at all.

Nomiki wrapped her arms around Kimihito and pulled him back into her bosom. "Well, maybe I should prove it to you, hm?"

"Not with the kids awake, Nomiki." Kimihito sighed and extracted himself from the amourous spider's grip. Looking over at the clock he saw that Rachnera should have closed shop ome time ago, a thought that was confirmed when he heard the door opening a moment later.

"Honey, I'm home." His wife shouted in from the hall, and Kimihito couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the line that was normally reserved for male sitcom protagonists.

His chuckle turned into full blown laughter when Katerina and Kyveli came rocketing into the hall and glomped onto Rachnera without a moment's pause. While Rachnera and Nomiki both believed that the girls should be more independent, the two younger Kurusus liked to fight back against that by gluing themselves to Rachnera whenever they could get away with it. Back when they were younger they used to ride along on Rachnera's back everywhere, until they grew too large to be carried very far.

"Mom! How was work?" Katerina said as she latched onto Rachnera.

A moment behind her was Kyveli, who opened with. "Mo~om, tell Katerina and Dad that I don't need math when I grow up."

"It was good, sweetie, and you will need math when you grow up Kyveli." Rachnera answered them both as she walked without even being slowed by the two spidergirls clinging to her and wrapped Kimihito in a half hug as she carried all three into the living room.

"How was MBI today, Honey?" Rachnera asked as she sat down, letting her daughters let go but keeping her husband wrapped up by her predilaps.

Kimihito wiggled a bit, before settling into the grip. "Bit of a pain. Minaka is still as difficult to deal with as ever."

"If they weren't paying so well I'd say you should just go back to Smith." She sighed, there was something off about that man, but even though Smith had been elevated to the rank of a director, her department just didn't have the funds to pay Kimihito anywhere near as well as the private sector.

"Ms. Smith's another girl that doesn't need math!" Kyveli cut into the conversation from the ceiling of all places. "She spends half the day here too talking about how to tease people with Nomiki and drinking all the coffee."

"Kyveli! Ms. Smith's not a good role model either! She's just as lazy as Grandma is." Katerina said to her sister, and was about to try to pull her off the ceiling when the black haired spidergirl was wrapped up in webs courtesy of said grandma.

"Mmm, little spiders should watch what they say around their elders, don't you know? Otherwise they might end up being preyed on." Nomiki chuckled as she started to drag Katerina out of the living room, reeling her in like a fisherman with their catch. Just before Nomiki could get the girl out of the room, Kimihito of all people reached out from where he was being hoarded by his wife and cut the silk with a knife, surprising the two elder arachne and bringing a grin to his face.

"Heh, so it did work, now if only I could take proper notes." Kimihito grinned and stowed the knife with an obviously practiced twirl. "One of the toys Minaka's got me working on, said I could take it home to test if I wanted to."

Before either Rachnera or Nomiki could ask just what let it cut their silk, Katerina glomped onto to Kimihito from the front. "Yay! Dad saved me from evil, lazy grandma."

"Your grandma isn't evil. Can't deny the lazy bit though." Kimihito chuckled as he rubbed the girl's hair and looked over at Nomiki, who was grinning at getting teased.

"Mmmm, maybe I'll just have to wrap you up too Kimi." Nomiki's grin grew.

Rachnera laughed a bit awkwardly to herself, she still hadn't gotten quite past getting uncomfortable at Nomiki's occasional 'sleepovers.' "Mmmm, we'll see Nomiki. Now how 'bout we get started on dinner Honey."

"Let me help!" The black haired girl said from where she was still hugging onto Kimihito, before letting go and rushing out of the room.

A moment later Kyveli added. "Kyveli too! Grandma says the best way to a man is through his stomach."

With the two girls out of the room, Kimihito let himself lean back into Rachnera's grip, and pulled the spidergirl down into a bit of an awkwardly positioned kiss. When he pulled back he grinned at his wife and said. "Hm, have I told you how much I love you recently?"

Rachnera laughed a little, "Yes, yes you have, many times." The spidergirl leaned in and gave Kimihito a short kiss in return. "But I get the oddest feeling you have something to ask behind this one."

"Got me." Kimihito grinned, he never could slip anything past his wife. It just made him love her all the more when she could figure out his problems half the time before he even knew what they were. "I was thinking about trying to retire early. If we save up, and I take some more overtime at work. We could probably have enough that I could just come and help you with the store. I want to be here to see the girls through highschool at least."

Racherna's smile became almost beatific. While she thought the girls should be given a fair bit of independence, she couldn't help but find Kimihito's paternal instincts to be one of his best traits. "Well, I don't see why not. My clientele base is picking up too so soon the store should start bringing in a more too. I'll try to whip Nomiki into shape so you don't have to worry about her polluting the girls while you are working overtime."

"Thanks Rachnee." Kimihito joked, before giving the spiderwoman another kiss and wiggling out of her grip, grabbing one of her carapace covered hands and saying. "Now, let's go get started on dinner before we get dragged there."

With that the two would head off to the kitchen, plans for the future filling the air.


	7. Chapter 7: Foal's Folly

**A/N:** Well, this took a bit longer then I was expecting. The chapter has been done for a fair bit, but a solid chunk of it got cut out and moved to Chapter 2 while the stuff that was existing got expanded. (So that means Chapter 2 already has a solid start on it). Also, no promises, but I may break my three chapter limit for this arc. Because as that second sentence implies, the first chapter was big enough to be broken off into the better part of a second chapter and that's just to get to where the first chapter would normally end for one of my stories. So for those of you who like Cera you'll probably be happy. For the rest of you, vote harder! I'm happy to see the poll at 55 votes so far, but there around a thousand of you that read the last chapter so vote! Even if you don't like the story so far you should still vote cause why not, it only takes a few seconds. As always, like, hate, neutral toward, leave a review! I read them all!

 **Disclaimer:** Still don't own DLWMG.

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 **Arc 3, Chapter 1: Foal's Folly**

England, to those who lived there, could be seen as many things. Beautiful rolling hills dotted with the iconic farms that clung stubbornly to their ancient shareholds, large metropolises with hundreds of thousands or millions within their near-timeless boundaries, even rain drenched, freezing hellholes, all could be found across the country. For tourists the expected ratio of the three rarely matched reality, and many a drenched foreigner learned quickly to avoid the third. So it had been for one black haired boy. Brought to England to visit his almost absentee parents, Kimihito definitely fell into the category of tourist.

The raven-headed youth had seen the Tower of London and felt the overwhelming sense of awe and antiquity of Westminster Abbey. He'd run amongst the old concrete fortifications and gun emplacements, gathering greenery and dust along the Cliffs of Dover, and traveled through the farmlands of Yorkshire to see a lifestyle that had survived industrialism, and two world wars. His father had been much more excited about the first two then the last, the glasses wearing man having a fondness for history, especially that of Europe. His mother, on the other hand, a short and skinny woman with thick glasses, was much more interested in the farms, and their current and final stop. The forest park of Galloway stretched on seemingly endlessly, and put any forest the three had seen in Japan to shame by a very large margin.

While his mother fawned over the giant trees that ringed the trail, and his father played along with her, Kimihito had decided to slip away. Now he was wasn't sure where his parents were, probably looking for him, but that was fine for the moment. The adventurous twelve year old was just at that stage where he started to feel invincible, and with it the need to spread his wings a bit. While he certainly didn't mind his parents flying him all the way out to England to spend some time with them, he did want to get away occasionally.

So as it was he found himself wandering the woods, long past the beaten path as he continued his little adventure. Kimihito probably should have brought something with him, even if it had just been his shinai that he had brought to show his parents, but as it was all he had on him was a stick that he had picked up and was using to walk.

As he walked, the woods around him becoming darker and thicker by the minute, Kimihito pondered about how he liked England. His parents had made sure that he learned english, or at least enough to function, before coming, so he was able to speak the language reasonably well for a twelve year old foreigner. It was much more open than home, even the rather boring trip through Yorkshire had been so refreshing compared to the urban sprawl he had come from. He took a deep breath where he stood; the air felt so _clean_. Though he knew he'd have to go back there soon enough, his parents didn't have the time to look after him here, and his aunt could at least check in on him occasionally back in Japan.

He was broken out of his musings when he heard the brush rustle nearby, and snapped to attention, wielding his walking stick with all the spirit of a novice that knew enough to cause some damage but not enough skill to prepare himself without making it obvious. He looked to the bushes nearby and said "Hey, who's there!"

The bush rustled again, and a female voice boomed across the small clearing Kimihito had found himself in. "I see you aren't completely unknown to the ways of the sword."

A moment later a woman stepped forward, her lower half completely obscured by the bush she hid behind, and brandished a wooden sword in a one handed grip. The sight of her left Kimihito's jaw hanging wide open; her skin was fair like many native English folk, an intriguing contrast to his own. Her hair was yellow like the bright daffodils he had seen in fields on the way here, but save for the waves of blonde across her forehead it was tied into a long ponytail that flowed down her back. While her youthful facial features suggested she was around Kimihito's age, her physical development in the chest area had exceeded any such girl's by months. He swore he was reading from an Arthurian fairytale right now, for a woman like this was legendary.

Then she took a few steps forward out of the bush, revealing she was a horse from the waist down.

That was one way to freeze his developing libido, to say nothing of their circumstances.

"What the heck! What are you!?" Kimihito said as his stance dropped, after a few moments of slack jawed staring at the woman, only to bring it up just in time to block a downward-sweeping strike from the horse girl's wooden arming sword. "Hey what are you doing!?"

"Don't let your guard down!" The centaur said as she launched another strike with her oaken blade. "I'm Centorea, the guardian of this clearing!"

"But you're just as old as I am! How are you the guardian of anything?! Also you didn't tell me what you are!" Kimihito said as he continued his desperate defense against the obviously more skilled girl, giving ground with strike he sloppily parried.

"Age does not matter when it comes to duty!" The centaur proudly declared, "For I am a centaur, the noblest species in all of England!"

Well that might be a bit arrogant, especially considering she had just started attacking him out of nowhere, but Kimihito wasn't going to let himself be beaten. While he was only just entering puberty, he had managed to rather firmly adopt the traditional teenager opinion that they were utterly invincible, even if he was being faced with something he thought shouldn't exist. If that meant beating a mythical beast in a swordfight, then by all that was good was he going to beat a mythical beast in a swordfight! He called on all his kendo training over the past year and struck back. Blocking another blow before twisting into a strike toward the centaur girl's wrist, which she was able to block. But the strike gave Kimihito what he needed to push the attack.

"Hmmm, you are capable for a foreigner! But you cannot triumph over a centaurs sense of duty!" The centaur said even as she was put on the back foot… Hoof?

Kimihito tried to bat her training weapon to the side and strike at her sword arm but was rebuffed. "What did I even do anyway?"

"You stepped on the flower I was protecting! It flowers rarely and was just about to bloom! Truly only the most heinous of people would step on such a flower." Shouted the blonde woman as she managed to put Kimihito on the defense again.

"What? It was an accident! I just wasn't looking where I was going!" Kimihito was starting to sweat from the exertion, before he stepped on a root, the ping of guilt she'd garnered from him enough to steal his concentration for the moment it took to fumble.

Losing his footing and wobbling over would have been bad enough, but in doing so he also lost his grip on the stick he was holding. Crashing to the ground with a pained groan he found himself staring at the tip of the woman's wooden sword, her triumph only lasting until the stick he'd thrown into the air came spinning down and beaned the centaur on the back of the head with a hollow thump. The surprise took her balance, the sudden, sharp pain sending her forward ontop of the youth with a yelp.

It should be noted, that while having the centaur girl's already generous bosom pressed up against his face definitely was something that would ingrain itself in the boy's mind, he wasn't able to take any pleasure from it. Instead Kimihito was much more concerned about the fact that the horse girl's horse half had just fallen on his legs. It was only thanks to a stroke of luck, and for ground, that in the fall both his legs weren't broken, but they sure felt like they had been.

"Ow owowowowowowow!" Kimihito cried out and flailed, causing the centaur girl to fall off to the side, her eyes unfocused for a moment before she shook her head to recover.

"Curses, just in the moment of victory, it is snatched away..." The centaur murmured with a sigh, before she noticed Kimihito rubbing his legs. The stinging in the back of her head wasn't quite gone yet, and she didn't want to continue the fight. There was a moment's pause, before she spoke up in the sheepish way one youth addresses another after roughhousing goes too far. "Are you okay? I did not… I did not mean to do any actual harm."

With the blood flow coming back to his legs, Kimihito was fairly sure that nothing was broken, though there would probably be a bruise or two. "It hurts, but I'm fine! Though I still can't believe you attacked me out of nowhere like that! Who are you anyways?!"

"You are the one who started it by damaging my dear flower! I have been waiting for two months for it to bloom!" The centaur half-yelped with a pout, then muttered to herself. "But... I should have addressed you first instead of going for the attack. Mother would be most displeased." She shook her head again and said. "I am Centorea Shianus, of the Shianus clan. We are the protectors of these woods! Now, what is a human doing here? You should have been stopped long before you could get this far."

A few kilometers away, the government assigned 'groundskeeper' of this tract of land was sprawled over his chair, snoring loudly. A large bottle of scotch was on the table beside him while a warning monitor on his desk beeped incessantly.

"Well I'm Kimihito Kurusu, and I just ran here to get away from my parents for an hour or two." Kimihito said, not exactly getting the implications of Centorea's words. With the pain in his legs fading, the adrenaline in his system was being replaced with childish glee. "But I wasn't expecting something this cool to happen! Why doesn't everyone know about centaurs! I thought they were just myths!"

The blond girl blushed at being called cool, before tutting at Kimihito waving his arms at his last statement in a very undignified manner. "Nor was I expecting to encounter a human today. Especially one that was skilled enough with the sword to keep up with me for any length of time. As for why you do not see us. The government does not believe most humans are ready for us, so we have to hide away from them. I haven't seen past the borders of these woods."

"Well that's cause I take kendo." Kimihito said excitedly, before his face fell a bit. "Thats...not very good! Don't worry though I'm sure you'll be able to see the rest of the world soon!"

The two talked for a while, quickly making friends and quickly losing all track of time. Centorea got to see for herself just how upright and purehearted this boy was. Kimihito felt a radiant goodness from this girl that made his heart feel light. Then in the distance they both heard a woman's voice calling through the woods.

"Ohh, that would be my mother." Centorea said as she tried to push herself up, before Kimihito actually offered her a hand to help get her to her feet, making her blush a bit again as her mind jumped toward those fantasy books she always read.

Kimihito missed the blush entirely and with the innocent grin of the young he said. "Let's meet again Centorea! And next time we can figure out who actually would win in a sword fight."

"That...might be a bit hard to arrange." Centorea, almost did a double take. Kimihito seemed to be completely honest in his words even though he knew about the government's blockade. She almost wanted to be insulted at it but...there was a little tug in her chest that made her say. "But we'll definitely make it work! Even if it takes some time."

Kimihito was about to say something more when the voice came again from much closer, and Centorea continued. "I must go, if my mother sees you there will be consequences. I'll look forward to that rematch Kimihito!"

With that the blond girl picked up her wooden sword and departed back into the bushes, leaving Kimihito to pick his way back to where his parents were staying, the two giving him a scolding for leaving without them and getting hurt while he was out there. Though neither would believe him when he told them about what had caused the bruises on his legs, and instead his mother had ended up taking him to the hospital to make sure he hadn't gotten heat stroke.

-ISoaN-

Being disbelieved would be something that Kimihito would grow quite familiar with. His parents didn't believe him when he told them about the centaur lady in the woods. The doctor didn't believe him when he told the older man that the bruises were caused by a horsegirl falling on them, and when he was sent back to Japan he couldn't manage to convince his Aunt or his schoolmates about it either.

It was the latter of those last two that would have the most effect on Kimihito's future. The boy had just transferred into junior high and one of the first things he was known for was his rampant attempts to convince everyone that monsterpeople were real. At first he was stunned when people thought he was kidding. Kimihito was still just a young boy; he didn't understand why no one would believe him without proof.

"If monsters exist, then how come only you seem to have seen one?" A girl asked him during an energetic lunchtime debate.

"I'm not. I can't have been! Hey Yusei, your family lives in the forests, right?" He touched the sleeve of the boy sitting next to him. "Haven't you guys ever gone walking in there?"

"Oh, yes. It's a government owned wood, but they always leave some parts of it open..." Yusei stopped himself. With everyone looking nervously at him, he gulped and realised just what Kimihito would twist his words into. "And we never saw a single one! The idea is crazy!" The boy shook Kimihito's hand off of him, and cared little for the frustrated dismay on his face. That was how it always went for the boy who had seen a centaur. None of his classmates showed him any faith, or even a tinge of curiosity - only ridicule. The teachers had drawn the line when Kimihito suggested they go to England for their class trip to any country. He'd have loved to have seen that countryside again for its own sake, but if he could find that centaur again and force her out to the open, everyone would have to believe him.

Eventually, his insistence had turned him into a social outcast from much of the school. By the time second year hit, Kimihito had grown weary and wary-eyed, and was starting to think that it was all a conspiracy against him.

That last line of thought was a short lived flight of fancy, a boy annoyed at the world and trying to blame it for all his problems. He did draw into himself though, doing well enough in his school, but devoting much of his free time to kendo. This only ostracized him further, and before the second year was out he had ended up falling in with the schools delinquents.

Here Kimihito found himself in a circle that he fit in surprisingly well after a bit of adjusting. Sure pretty much nobody believe him still, but if anything the thought that he might be a bit crazy just made those in the small gang like him more. Not to mention that since most of his free time went to his practice, Kimihito was starting to rapidly gain status in the local prefecture Kendo circle, and he even went to compete in tournaments across the country.

All of this lined Kimihito up to be the gang's enforcer. It wouldn't be too unusual by 9th grade to see the boy walking with his group of friends. A bokken over his shoulder and a reed grass stalk hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Was it stereotypical? Yes it was, but nobody was going to bring it up with the guy who was rapidly becoming the national kendo champion. Especially when said tournament winner was was quite willing to teach some 'manners' to whoever thought to insult him or his friends. By the end of that year of school he had been involved in a number of fights, and had been put to the principal's office more times than he could count.

Oddly enough,his popularity actually started to grow at that point. While he was rather dangerous when crossed, he became known for being laid back and never did to much harm to even those he went after, usually. There were rumours and confirmed tales of times he had hospitalized someone, his seeming calling card of such incidents was shattering the wrists of his opponents. He didn't participate in the groups' less savoury activities like vandalism or thievery, considering them petty and not worth the effort, even if he didn't stop them from doing such acts when he was around. He actually ended up becoming the 'approachable' member of the group when someone needed to bring issue to them or for other reasons. Though even as he was the 'approachable' one, when he was the one that approached _you_ then that was a good reason to fear.

The gang actually stayed together as they moved on to high school, and Kimihito proved instrumental in them securing their place against the older groups. The school itself swept much of the damage done under the rug as they wanted to keep the prestige of such a capable student. What wasn't caught by the school was covered up by the victims themselves to save face about being beat up by a first year, and soon enough Kimihito actually elevated himself further among their hierarchy. Becoming the co-head of the group by popular demand, along with the former solo head Natsu Ayuhara, who like Kimihito had gotten into the school on a sports scholarship, though this one for volleyball.

It'd be in the position of mini-mob boss that Kimihito would ride the rest of his way through high school. He kept his group from going into the more dangerous crimes most of the time, and despite their appearance his group didn't partake in drugs worse than alcohol and tobacco or 'unwarranted' violence. It was more out of pragmatism than anything else. With Kimihito at near the helm he wanted to keep their group operating just above the table enough that they couldn't get booted out of school as a mass. Not to mention that keeping drugs out of the group kept them in shape to deal with those that deserved 'warranted' violence. That wasn't to say they didn't have the occasional brush with the law, usually when someone went just a bit too far and put someone in for intensive care. Kimihito though kept himself from being directly tied to any of it, or at least kept himself from taking the finger for it. He'd always keep some of the money his parents gave him, and what they made off their little rackets, to get his underlings out of such trouble before it hit the courts.

Despite it all, Kimihito himself was actually a rather adept student, floating through school with an above average grade. His various teachers felt that the boy could have excelled if he had ever put in the effort, but he was always more focused on his sport of choice.

His reputation of a bad boy had made him a target for girls. Kimihito could have asked almost any girl he wanted to go out with them and they would have said yes. It was only natural he'd try it out with a few, especially when a girl initiated. He kept their interest, they had a fun ride, but it'd always end before long. He could kiss them, he could date them, but Kimihito had trouble being close to any of them. The delinquent never had much to say when called out on this weakness of his. The most he could muster was that they were boring, and few were willing to push it further for fear of angering him.

It very much didn't help that Kimihito was still carrying a small torch for that supposedly non-existent girl he had met years ago. No human could match up to the vision of beauty his mind had built up around her as he had gone through puberty with his sparse memories.

Kimihito had long ago given up on meeting the girl again, though; if he were a lucky man, he'd have had better luck in these years. The closest a girl ever got to him was his co-boss Natsu. The woman hit most of the points he had been looking for. She was tall, taller than he was by a good two inches, she had an athletic physique built up over years of hard training, and had managed to beat his ass with a volleyball one time much to his embarrassment. They had dated for the better part of two years on and off, before eventually it ended. It wasn't that either actually disliked each other, but in the last year of highschool it had become rather painfully obvious that they were going to each go their separate ways. He was going to a university in town, she wanted to go to one in Kyushu. Maybe they'd see each other again, but odds are they wouldn't. So after a rather...memorable night the day before graduation they had broken it off amiably.

Still, even during all that time, he couldn't forget that day in the woods of Scotland so long ago. Maybe he really was crazy, or perhaps the world was crazy for most to not even try and meet that standard he'd seen set. Either way, the end result was the same. He was left lonely, and with no prospects on the horizon to change that.

He didn't have to wait too long for that to reverse again, just till a few months into the first year that Kimihito passed on to university. He had been accepted to a relatively good university, his delinquent streak swept under the rug in favour of a scholarship for his skills. It was on the first day of classes that the raven haired man had woken up to a rather interesting newspaper headline.

" _Mythological Creatures Confirmed by Government."_

Below that was a picture of people that would look perfectly acceptable in a fantasy novel. People that looked like any beast or creature just as much as they looked like a human. Kimihito didn't even read the article; there wasn't anything it really had to say that he hadn't been trying to tell people already. His phone was being lined with messages and phone calls, from family members and other doubters. His fingers started speedily writing a proud reply to his parents, boisterously asserting how right he had been. But as he dwelled on it more, he couldn't seem to finish it. Yeah, the truth was now out there, but had the people themselves really changed? The same ones who wouldn't give him the time of day when he told them the truth so long ago? Likely not. So he discarded the message. Why get worked up about something that meant so little? He went about his day, figuring out what to do next.

Though he did allow himself a smart little grin.

-ISoaN-

And of course, he was right again. Kimihito's world didn't change much. Sure he felt vindicated by it all but he wasn't about to do a sudden 180 because of the revelation. Nor was the world around him. He was still a feared gang leader. His peers still thought he was a delinquent yakuza heir. The irony in how some myths are easily accepted while others are rejected. He was half tempted to go visit his parents in England, but his commitments to the kendo circuit were enough to keep him from running off, if just barely. Instead he just piddled along in school, training constantly for the big tournament that was coming. A grand international tournament for fighters of various styles to compete was being held just nearby, and the prize money was enough that he certainly wasn't going to turn down the invitation he had received.

Kimihito even got one of his old gang friends to sneak him out the participants list a week before so he could research them a bit.

" _Ryusuke Ishida - Kendo."_

Kimihito was familiar with this one. Ishida was an arrogant heir of a wealthy family, and a straight-and-narrow stick in the mud, so of course the two didn't like each other. They'd clashed in the circuits, and there were boos when Kimihito had trounced the snob so hard he couldn't stand to be in his own gear, it felt so filthy. Either he'd be pumping for round two, or, more likely, he'd be so reluctant that the pre-match banter would probably tilt him. Could be good.

" _Matthew Clement - Fencing."_

France's best competitor for this tournament, or so he had heard. Fencers moved fast and they were all about 'la belle touche'. That would be a clash of styles. Apparently the guy was composed and patient, but fencers didn't like to be on the defensive. Maybe he could make that work.

" _Hans Schneider - Longsword."_

The tournament favourite. The guy worked out like swordfighting was his life. Kimihito could try and use his strength against him, but otherwise he'd have to read up on what tactics worked against longswords.

Still mulling that over, Kimihito had almost drifted completely past the next name on the list, when he realised its pronunciation was like nothing he'd ever heard before. But like something he had heard. It was one of his most vivid memories, and it made him almost choke on his drink.

" _Centorea Shianus - Centaur Sword Arts."_

He hadn't forgotten that name. He couldn't. In all the years when it was just him against the world, he remembered exactly what she'd called herself.

Now there she was. Again, just as he'd been vindicated. Like that centaur was sailing all the way here just to challenge him. Probably as valiant as ever. The image made him smile.

The part of Kimihito that was still spiteful at the world, that thought even the reveal of monsterpeople might all be part of a plan that would spite him further, was pessimistic. Enough to cool him and make him a little trepid. But the other part just really wanted that rematch.

Sure she was in the other block so he'd only get to potentially fight her if they both got to the finals, but he couldn't help but feel some extra motivation to get that far at seeing the name. He wasn't sure if it was the same girl he had run into all those years ago, but he'd be damned if he couldn't hope.

Kimihito rushed off to his university and promptly took over the training room for a few days, much to the annoyance of a few of his peers. All of whom were too afraid to say anything, lest the newspapers report them being found dead in an alleyway having shot themselves in the back of the head. Meanwhile, Kimihito would train harder than he ever had in his life. He wouldn't be the only one preparing.

-ISoaN-

Centorea took in a deep breath as she calmed herself before the opening ceremony. She had managed to get a special pass from the Liminal Migration Department to be allowed to travel to Japan by herself and look for her own host. Though she had managed to get it bent a bit to allow her to compete in this tournament without it potentially being a visa violation.

For years Centorea had been looking forward to her rematch with the one human she had ever fought against. She would fight many more in this grand tournament to come, but she felt more prepared than any centaur alive thanks to her training since that day so long had also already determined that she'd make sure that Kimihito accepted her as her host. After all, it was obvious when one looked into it that they were a fated pair. Their single meeting had been the start of Kimihito's rise to the top kendo competitor in Japan and it was obviously thanks to their fight spurring him on to train better. Centaurs were the trainers of heroes after all.

But what was making her focus to calm herself was not the prestige of the tournament ahead. Nor some of the less appropriate fantasies that were running through her head. Instead it was the things she was hearing from some of her fellow competitors, namely the japanese ones.

"I can't believe they allowed Kimihito to compete." Said one to another.

"I heard he beat up the universities' heads to get them to let him in." Said other replied.

Kimihito knew about it, but didn't care that the kendo community had gotten wind of his delinquency long ago. His high school friends had embraced the ire that he was so apathetic to, and that word had bloomed into a full blown mythology around the boy. If you asked some other schools they'd tell you that the boy had ruled his high school with an iron fist and had his own yakuza thugs make anyone who said a bad word about him disappear. Others would just say that the man was dangerous and shouldn't be allowed to compete with more honourable members of society. Yet others would espouse about the villainous honour of the raven haired man. About how he would beat up only worse crooks then his own group, which came out of the early years of his time in highschool.

Regardless of the various stories she heard, Centorea was rather concerned. Centaurs were the trainers of heroes, not villains! She'd have to see this for herself and if need be she'd have to set him on the right path.

Her worries were to some extent confirmed when she finally walked into the opening ceremony and saw Kimihito standing down on his end too. The boy was dressed just like one of those delinquents! His jacket kept on lazily without even having his arms through the sleeves, unkempt hair, a cocky smile that was as confident in himself as it was dismissive of everyone nearby. He even had an unlit cigarette hanging lazily out the side of his mouth. It was downright uncouth!

Though there was a glimmer of hope for Centorea. The black haired boy seemed to recognize her instantly and his smile turned into something more genuine as he gave her a two finger salute before the ceremony began and their attention was taken by it. The blonde woman made sure to remember to have a chat with the man after this. Neither of them were actually going to be fighting today anyways, according to the ranking board.

-ISoaN-

Kimihito had caught the look in Centorea's eyes, and knew that he'd just have to wait after and the woman would find him. So he was outside the arena with that lit cigarette now sporting burning embers on the tip. He wasn't a habitual smoker. Whenever he _really_ needed to calm down he could usually be found with a smoke, and right now he really did need to calm down.

The mental image he had built up of the centaur girl over the years had proven rather insufficient for what he had seen in that opening ceremony. The already developing girl he had met as a young teen was now a fully developed woman. She had long flowing blonde hair that was tied back in the same ponytail as before, her figure had filled out and left her with a body that most humans would kill for even with the horse half, and while he couldn't be sure, her arms looked skinny but filled with steel cord like muscles. She also towered a good half a foot or more over him, a fact that became rather obvious when a shadow passed over Kimihito. He normally hated coming across someone taller than him.

"Smoking is deleterious for thine health. You should abstain from it." Centorea said as she stepped up beside him. She spoke with such firmness. But it came from a much different place than the likes of snobs like Ishida who thought they were better than him.

Kimihito just shrugged his shoulders. "Helps me calm down."

"Deep breaths and peace of mind should be enough to sate any great warrior."

"I see that your vocabulary has grown even more then way back when?"

"I've taken to the teachings of my elders, including language." Centorea looked over at Kimihito and added. "You, meanwhile, have changed rather drastically from who I remember."

"Hey, I'm not that different. I just like to dress a bit differently." Kimihito joked. "If you're thinking about what the others probably say about me, let me tell you they are pretty much all massive exaggerations."

"So you didn't beat up a dozen older knaves just so that thine cohorts could claim domain over their territory?"

Kimihito laughed dryly to himself. "Okay, that one's true. But if you heard anything about me beating up teachers or being Yakuza? Complete nonsense."

That wasn't as bad as Centorea had feared. Already she was at ease - there was something honest about how the boy answered her, that meant she believed him wholeheartedly. That honesty was something he had still held since the day they first met. But it would have been nice if he could have kept his virtue.

Centorea looked Kimihito over. The boy she had met had grown into a rather strapping young adult, large for the average japanese person and visible through his shirt were muscles born of long practice along his arms and torso. "Hmmm, well, we shall have to see. Though if you would deign to allow it, I am in need of a billet during my time here-"

"You can stay at my place, if that's what you're going to ask." Kimihito said with a sidelong look and grin. "Though it's pretty brave to be asking to stay over at the local thugs house, isn't it?"

"I highly doubt you would resort to anything untoward. Besides, I'd dearly appreciate understanding how the years have treated you." She spoke as if they were old friends with years' of experience together instead of years apart. Yet like Kimihito, Centorea had spent much of the past few years building up her mental image of the boy she had met. Every centaur dreamed of finding a hero to train, and her mother had set the precedent for centaurs living with human husbands instead of the few men a centaur tribe would have the government bring in being used solely as teasers. So even if her fated partner was a bit off from what she had hoped, she'd still follow through! It was a centaur's duty to guide their human on the correct path!

Kimihito chuckled again. "Well, if you want, then who am I to say otherwise? I've got a room on the first floor that should be good for you." Taking the burnt out cigarette out of his mouth Kimihito flicked it away. "It's a bit of a walk so maybe we can catch up some more on the way?"

"That is acceptable, please lead the way."

-ISoaN-

Centorea felt a fair bit better about her situation by the time she arrived at Kimihito's home. For one, it wasn't in a slum or anything, so that was a plus. She had also learned that while Kimihito definitely was...a bit rough around the edges, he wasn't a complete write off. Many things he stood for were noble, like standing up for one's friends, but the ease with which he'd resort to violence sometimes felt thuggish. Or maybe he just didn't care enough to make himself not seem that way? Assuming he wasn't lying, the man seemed much more like the noble enemy in her books then the outright villainous bandit.

Kimihito had spent much of the walk asking Centorea about how she had spent the past few years. She was almost disappointed in herself that she did not provide any particularly interesting tales, but Kimihito didn't seem to mind that much of her life was spent behind the walls the government of England had erected to protect its liminal population from its human ones. He could tell it bothered her, though, and he didn't know how to process that just yet.

That wasn't to say Centorea was entirely devoid of stories to tell. She rejoiced with noble gusto the jousting tournaments her mother had helped her compete in, or the forever immortalized battle against the bees. Truly the latter was an epic tale to tell full of combat and stories of valorous action by herself and her family. That story took most of the time it took them to walk back to Kimihito's home, and Centorea was shown to her room, which was indeed much to her liking.

"I used some of my parents' cash to get it remade into a kendo dojo, but I got some futons and stuff we can throw down on the mats and you'll be all good to go." Kimihito said as he showed Centorea the room, it was traditional and surprisingly unfitting for the look Kimihito sported for himself. How he had guessed that she liked traditional styling she wasn't sure, though it could have just been because of her speaking style and like of swords.

It was that easy. Kimihito had taken a guess off his companion's method of speech that she'd like the room over the more proper guest room that he had on this floor. Regardless he figured that anything upstairs was more or less out. "But yah, you need anything, just ask." If there was one thing he wouldn't be, it was a bad host.

"Mmm, that sounds good. Though...if it isn't too much to ask. I did not have time to eat today. Could you perchance provide me with a meal?" Centorea asked. While she was starting to relax her worries about Kimihito a bit, she was not done testing him. She had managed to eat earlier, but she wanted to see if Kimihito would be willing to provide for her.

And he didn't disappoint.

"Ain't a problem. I'll throw something together. Guessing you can't eat meat?" Kimihito asked as he opened the hallway closet and pulled out a stack of futons, handing them to Centorea to let her set up her room however she liked. When he got a nod of confirmation he flashed a grin and added. "Sounds good, should be ready in a few minutes Cera."

Centorea missed the nickname for a moment and Kimihito managed to escape the room before Cera caught it and sputtered, causing Kimihito to chuckle as he heard it from the hallway.

"Centorea."

"Hm?"

"My full name is Centorea, Kimihito. You should address me as such. It is only courteous to your company."

She clearly had _no idea_ what he would call his gang sometimes.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll try and remember that, Cera."

-ISoaN-

After that meal, the two of them had enjoyed a pleasant if brief evening of sightseeing. Kimihito kept to mostly pleasant locales, and the ever-proper Centorea had insisted they return home the instant dusk had set, meaning anywhere else would have to wait. It was just as well that they be well-rested, he conceded, for the next day would bring battle.

Both Kimihito and the now insistently named 'Cera' despite mild protests had matches. The two headed over to the arena it was being conducted at together. Though this time Centorea would notice a few things as they went, namely a few stares that seemed to be directed at Kimihito more than her. Maybe it was because he looked like he had just gotten out of bed. Though Cera now knew that he did actually clean himself up in the mornings, he actually woke up fairly early. He just seemed to have a naturally messy look.

They parted ways when they arrived though, as their fights were in different parts of the building. There, Kimihito was met Daiki, a friend who only looked like a gang member; his grades as good as Kimihito's own, and if every threat and insult he had memorised didn't work then the brown-haired sap was likelier to run away crying for his mother than actually fight.

"Boss!" Daiki waved him over anxiously. "Why weren't you here yesterday? Didn't you want to look at the competition?"

Kimihito tilted his head. "I was. Kinda. Why, what are you so shaken up over? You're not the one fighting."

"But I was watching and I'm, I'm kinda worried for you, boss. Some of these monsters are _strong_! Hans Schneider got knocked out by a minotaur with a club! It was mad!"

"Wasn't he the favourite?"

"He was, and he wasn't the only human to lose. Most humans who had monster matchups yesterday lost. A lot of people are crying foul, but nothing's been done. They just expect you to play like it's nothing. Have you _seen_ some of these monsters, boss? I think I saw a minotaur here; that isn't nothing!"

"How do we know it's the racial factor?" Kimihito retorted while looking down the hall where his opponent would be. "They've no experience fighting against a monster's combat style, no? Perhaps they expected it to be just like a human."

"That's optimistic, isn't it?"

"Not really. It's just typical. People tend to fall for the most basic assumptions."

Kimihito's battle, as Daiki helped discuss with him, was against a Mantis girl named Yume. The woman was known for incredible speed and skill.. Nothing he couldn't likely deal with though.

"I didn't sell you short when I was talking, don't worry. That mantis should think you're the devil incarnate. Squash that bug!"

"Thanks." Was all Kimihito had to say; he knew how mood could affect a competitor's performance. All the same, Kimihito couldn't go into this one overconfident. Instead he went into it expecting that the woman could kick his ass. Victory always felt better when you thought that head of time.

Sliding into his fighting mindset Kimihito would look completely calm as he stepped onto the arena that he would be battling the Yume at. The mantis girl was already there as well, doing the exact same that he was, namely checking to make sure there weren't any oddities in the arena floor. The mantis woman had padding on the natural blades that were attached to her arms.

Soon enough the match itself would start, and after all the pomp and ceremony that followed these things Kimihito found that the Mantis girl was extremely fast. As soon as the match had started, she launched off at him almost faster than he could react. 'Almost' wasn't fast enough, though, and Kimihito stepped back from her strikes. The two weapons striking simultaneously were rather impossible to block without taking a hit; baiting and punishing attacks would be the key

Having being given such a chance, he stepped back and struck out, catching the girl on her wrist. As his sword made contact, the point caller handed out a point. Each fighter got a single point for each solid hit they made that could cause debilitating damage, with the victor being whoever had the most points at time's end or got to fifty first, and Kimihito had quite some skill at doing just that both in the arena and off.

The mantis girl obviously had some skill in it as well, given she kept striking for what would have been incredibly painful hits even with the padding she had as the tournament didn't have the strike rules on hit locations like sports like Kendo did. Hits to places like his diaphragm, to his groin, and even toward his fingers, though the latter two were not scoring locations. The only place spared from threat was the back of his head; such was a hard and very damaging place to hit which neither attacker had the malice to even consider. Kimihito stepped away from them when he could, deflected them when he couldn't, and if he couldn't do either he would twist and put a less painful place in the way even if it sacrificed a point. He had to play for the long game.

The fight would go on all the way till the time draw, and Kimihito honestly wasn't sure who won as he lowered his weapon and took in short breath. They really weren't kidding when they said they had brought the best they could find here, and he would try to center himself as he waited for the judges call. The mantis girl across from him hadn't even changed her expression the entire fight, though she too seemed short of breath even if she was trying her hardest not to show it.

The raven haired man couldn't help but break into a large grin when the results came in and they were in his favour, by five points. The totals being forty five for him and forty for Yume. His grin turned a bit cocky as he looked to Yume and said. "Good fight, maybe you'll get me next time." Yume didn't react to the comment or the expression, and without even a short bow she turned and left.

So little emotion from his opponent, even after he'd teased them. Perhaps she simply didn't care about him now that the battle was done. With a shrug, Kimihito turned and left the arena himself, running into Centorea who had already finished, hitting the maximum of fifty points over her competitor from some western heavy combat school or something. He hadn't looked up her opponents much; he'd just taken it for granted that she would win.

"I caught the tail end of your battle. Your technique was solid, even at that stage of the match. Your skills are indeed as good as I heard if you were able to hold out like that against a mantis girl of all things." Kimihito was exhausted, but Cera's praise was like fresh water. "Though, it is still early in the day, would you mind showing me around the town?"

"Mmm, don't see why not. Let me just get changed back into normal clothes and we can head out of here." Kimihito said with a nod and headed into the changeroom.

Cera would wait outside, and saw a rather rough looking, younger woman standing outside too. Compared to Kimihito, this dame didn't even pretend to look like a reasonable member of society. She wore the same kind of jacket that Kimihito did though she actually wore it, and had a streak of red hair running over her left side. Cera didn't know what she was doing there but she seemed to be waiting for Kimihito too.

"Hello? May I ask why you are waiting here?" Cera asked the woman.

Said woman gave Cera a single glance before dismissing her with a. "None of your business, horse pussy. What are _you_ doing here?"

"I am waiting for my host." Cera said bluntly, half glaring at the woman. "Kimihito is just retiring his battle armour for the day."

"Shit, you boss' girlfriend or something?" The woman said with a frown. "Didn't think he'd go for the stiff busy-bossy type." She eyed Cera's chest with a minxish smirk. "Or maybe he would."

Cera couldn't hold her glare, instead she was too busy blushing embarrassedly at such a crass assumption. "What! N-No, we are simply warriors! We are most certainly not in courtship!" She thought the Japanese were meant to be more mannerly than most humans.

"Sorry bout that." The woman held her hands up innocently. "I'm Ryuko. I've just got to borrow Kimihito for an hour or two, hope you don't mind." She couldn't keep from chuckling a bit, but thankfully Kimihito came out before the conversation could continue. "'Ey boss, mind helping me with an...issue?"

"What is it this time, Ryuko?" Kimihito asked with a half sigh. While uni had more or less put him out of the gang stuff, occasionally a few of his old school buddies would stop by and ask him for help.

"Just need some extra muscle. My sister's crew are running the school like they own it at this point and don't think I can take on all of 'em by myself." Ryuko replied. "And Mokoto's not around today."

Kimihito chuckled. "Satsuki really took over after me and the majority of the gang left didn't she?" He turned to Centorea, who was looking rather lost in the dialogue. "Cera, want to go beat up some people that deserve it?"

" _Centorea_ ," the centaur raised a pointed finger as she blushed, "and yes, it is a centaur's duty to act righteously."

"Great. Let's go." Kimihito said with a grin.

-ISoaN-

"Kimihito. How does a school's disciplinary committee remotely resemble 'people that deserve it'?'" Centorea glared at Kimihito for a moment before focusing back on the opponent she was fighting sword to sword, who for some reason was a blindfolded man who dressed much like Kimihito. They had showed up at the school and Ryuko had drawn the man out, along with two of his friends; a small woman with blonde hair that Ryuko was fighting, and a giant man who Kimihito was battling.

Kimihito had ample opportunities to tell the centaur of his motives; she'd noted just how many quiet gaps had emerged in his battle. But despite her shouts, which he must have heard, he never gave an answer. What was he taking her for?

For all the world Centorea wished she could stop the battle and force a more honest answer from her allies and her opponents, but no one would yield until beaten, and they were forcing a fight out of the tournament-tired trio. Perhaps super skilled high schoolers were the norm in Japan; it would explain a lot. For the battle between the two trios was grand indeed, and Cera was hard pressed against this Uzu person. After a few minutes of her doubts, she decided she'd had enough and dodging away from Uzu's latest strike she said. "I yield, I cannot properly put myself into this fight as I do not believe in its cause."

The blindfolded swordsman seemed to pause for a moment, expecting a trick, before he shrugged and lazily said. "Fine, not like I really care. Ryuko's the one that we're after." The words caused a minor twinge in Centorea. They were said with an edge that made her wonder if the man was actually a school disciplinary officer, or an enforcer that had been put in a uniform.

When the man immediately went after Kimihito, and left him on the back foot as he tried to fend off two attackers at once, she felt a mix of more a bad feeling in her stomach, and a bit of a 'he deserves it' melding together to leave her confused.

Oddly enough Kimihito didn't give a vocal reaction to her bowing out. Instead he just seemed to grin of all things and doubled up on his effort. Ryuko though was a bit more vocal. "Hey! What are you doing horse girl! We're going to get our asses kicked if you bow out."

"You should have informed me of what we would be doing before you dragged me here under false pretenses." Centorea replied to the irate raven haired woman, and shifted on her feet as she saw Kimihito take a hit to the chest from Uzu's shinai causing him noticeable pain.

The battle continued for another two minutes, as Kimihito seemed to get faster and stronger with every strike he landed, and was landing on him oddly enough. Until with one hard strike he knocked Uzu back for a moment and struck out for the giant of a man he was battling the blow catching him off guard and slamming into the man's solar plexus, causing him to bend over and collapse in pain.

Even as the strike was connecting though, Uzu had gotten his bearings and was striking again, the blow going right for the back of Kimihto's neck. It was just inches from connecting when it was stopped by a replica sword getting in the way.

"I thought you said you were going to bow out!" Uzu said with surprise at Cera's blade blocking his strike.

The centaur woman frowned, and threw a glare at the man for his dishonourable strike. "No true ally of justice would aim for such a potentially crippling strike. You dishonor your uniform."

Uzu didn't get time to protest, before he was hit by both Kimihito and Cera's strikes, causing him to join his large comrade on the ground in pain. A moment later the blonde woman joined them as Ryuko finished her fight.

"Thanks, boss." Ryuko said with a thumbs up. "I can handle it from here. And I guess you're alright, horse girl."

"Heh, I'm sure you can, Ryuko. Try not to lose your way while you're at it." Kimihito gave her a thumbs up back as he stowed his bokken and lead Centorea away from the school, looking for all the world like absolutely nothing unusual had happened.

As they got a bit further away from the school, Centorea said with an edge in her voice. "Kimihito, I would like you to answer my question. How was that in any way a proper course of action?"

"Well, Ryuko's sister is a real card, she tried to recruit us into her little 'company' back when she showed up but in the end we graduated before she could push it too much further. Looks like she moved into the vacuum we left though." Kimihito said almost disinterestedly.

"And? She is the rightful authority, even if she seems to have caged bears for enforcers. Orderly and and respectful structures are for the benefit of all society; thuggish brutality is not." Centorea pushed.

Kimihito shrugged. "Yeah, but order ain't all it's cracked up to be you know? So you think we should be working against Ryuko, not with her?"

"Yes, yes I do. I think to most of the school there we looked like villains, not heroes." The horse woman said.

Kimihito noticed Cera stressing 'heroes' a bit oddly. "Mmmm, everyone looks like a villain on the other side, you know. Not that I don't see where you're coming from, but I'm not going to leave one of my old friends out to dry."

Centorea really couldn't tell how she should feel. She wanted to be angry at Kimihito for being such a force against order and law, but in another, he was doing it out of loyalty to one of his friends. She almost wondered if Kimihito would do something like that for her if they got to know each other a bit better, and for some reason she felt a bit...off at the worry that he might not.

"Heh," Kimihito laughed at the concentration on Centorea's face. "Don't worry, I'd count you as an old friend too. If we hadn't had that merry old bout in the woods that day, I probably would have dropped Kendo within a year or two, and then I wouldn't be a national champion at something." Kimihito patted Cera's flank as they walked, causing the centaur to blush.

The blush would be lost when Centorea stomped the ground with her front hooves, kicking up some dust. Kimihito stepped aside in surprise. "Well, that is good to know, but it excuses nothing. A hero should act heroic, not like a thug. Even if it is a thug with morals. Likewise, a hero does not simply allow his company to act like knaves. Ryuko and your followers should have a nobler example! Not this, this single-minded blackguard they have now!"

"Oh, is that a challenge Cera?" Kimihito's voice was full of amusement. He'd actually heard of 'blackguard' before, but even if he hadn't he knew all too well what she meant. "Want to put something up on our match if we get there?"

"Indeed, if I win, you will conduct yourself as a true hero!" Cera said with a flourish. "No excuses!"

"And if I win?" Kimihito responded.

"By my honour as a hero, you won't." She said that so sternly that he was actually caught off guard for a moment.

"Hm. Alright." He chewed his lip. "But if I do…" Centorea didn't have anything to say so he added his own with a massive smile. "Mmmmm," he tapped his foot on the ground as he thought of something. Cera didn't really have anything he wanted. But then again, this was an honourable bet, right? So he could ask of her anything. And if they could do just one thing...

"If I win you'll go out on a date with me."

Centorea flushed again. "W-What! That is not-"

"I think it's quite an even exchange. If anything I think I'm getting jipped." Kimihito cut Centorea off, a hint of nervousness hidden underneath his facade. Kimihito would _not_ miss his chance to at least try to get the girl of his very literal dreams to at least go out on a date with him. Seriously, the image he had built up of the centaur girl over the years had paled to the true thing, especially in the...figure department. Really, even his wildest fantasies couldn't have expected the girl's chest to get as big as it actually was. It was so broad that in a match it struck out as easily as any other target, but it would be heresy to touch them in way other than...than...

Anyway, Centorea was still blushing. She couldn't actually say that she was entirely against the idea of a date with Kimihito. The man was fit, on the handsome side of plain, and he had at least some virtue. It was just such a brazen way to go about it! "I...I accept those terms…Though I shall not go easy on you, Kimihito. Our rematch must be at both our full strength, so I expect you to not laze about the next few days." She would know, she was living in his house afterall.

"Sounds good. Now, let's go check out downtown, why don't we? There's an organic foods store that we could pick up something to eat." Kimihito motioned Cera to follow him. "No thuggery, I promise."

"It won't be the first time you make that promise." She smiled radiantly as she followed his lead. The two made for quite good icebreakers through the rush hour crowds.

* * *

 **A/N 2:** One note in passing, while we do have an early start on chapter 2 here. I am planning to get out at least one chapter of Spokes of Life before chapter 2 gets seriously looked at for this arc as I've left SoL languid a bit longer then I'd like. Sorry about that to all my readers of this story!


	8. Chapter 8: Daring Draw

**A/N:** Here you all go, you get a second 'chapter 1.' This doesn't actually count as the second chapter of the arc, so expect that and an epilogue chapter still! Hope you all like the extra build up, don't expect this to happen all the time for future arcs though. As for the poll, well, look to A/N 2 at the bottom of the chapter. As always, like, hate, see something that you think could change or that you thought was cool, leave a review! I read them all! Also thanks to everyone who favourites and follows this story! In a related note to the reviews, yes I know Cera isn't the translation the manga is going with these days, but I started following the series back when chapter 2 and 3 were brand new and there are a lot of translation oddities I picked up from way back then.

 **Lime Warning:** This chapter contains a heavy dose of Lime toward its end, though clothes stay on so we don't reach Lemon territory just yet.

 **Disclaimer:** As always, don't own daily life with monster girl, but if Crabman ever comes around and reads this hope he'll like what I write and cut me in!

* * *

 **Arc 3, Chapter 2: Dearest Delinquent's Daring Draw**

Days passed. The competition got tougher. Cera and Kimihito trained even harder. While Cera was going up against some cat girl that had danced her way this close to the finals. Kimihito had been matched against the minotaur girl who had crushed all the human competitors that had gone against her, much to the growing displeasure of much of the human half of the audience. As their options to cheer for were rapidly diminishing against a tide of monster people Kimihito had found himself slowly going from just a few spectators to a genuine crowd at each fight. He didn't particularly care at first, but as it grew larger and their cheers more hopeful, he had to admit it felt rather good to have the audience on his side for once.

Kimihito could have done without a few of his old friends stopping by and trying to give him more warnings about the minotaur girl though. Daki had been the most vocal, the thuggish looking half wimp talking up the minotaur girl every time he saw him. "Boss! She took out this guy in a single hit! You should have seen it." Or "Her axe is the size of you Boss! And she can swing it like it's a toothpick."

"Daki, shut up, you sound like you're in her fan club or something." Had been Kimihito's reply at the time, and he stood by it every time Daki started to bring up the minotaur girl again.

Really it was like she was the boogeyman or something. While he wasn't sure if he could actually win, he didn't need people thinking he was going to get kicked to the curb easily, so he'd send them away with a few chiding remarks and occasionally a bruised head when he reminded them just why he was the gang's old enforcer. Didn't keep them all from being there for his fights though, usually somewhere in the front row, disturbing everyone nearby by being even more brash and bawdy than usual as they cheered him on.

As a result, Kimihito was starting to feel a bit more weight settling onto his shoulders with each completed match as the number of humans in the competition dwindled to just one. Not being one to slack, the Kimihito home was filled with the sounds of training weapons striking dummies as the two trained in the yard, along with a large number of the local younger kids who had been brought out by the sight and were trying to emulate the two, occasionally forcing the centaur and delinquent to take a rest to break up fights that sprung out. The small army of the children had both rather embarrassed Cera, and had tapped directly into the girl's enthusiasm and her role model aspirations; soon enough, she was entirely overtaken with the thought of passing her skills onto the next generation. Kimihito couldn't help but grin at the sight of the gigantic woman leading an army of small kids in drills, though he did have to give a few of the older ones that were going through puberty a few baps. When Cera wasn't looking they let their gazes and whispered words wander, with only a sharp, if harmless smack, to keep them in line.

It wasn't that they were always training though, and that all their training happened in the yard. Balance in all things, Cera advised; Kimihito simply didn't want to work too hard. The two continued to explore the town, with Kimihito leading Centorea to a variety of locations around the city. With each passing day he was able to narrow down her interests better. He had helped her find a favourite vegetarian restaurant downtown that they now frequently visited. Enough that the elderly female owner was starting to make some odd comments to the both of them about their respective love lives when the other was away from the table. Much to Kimihito's amusement and to Cera's literal steam inducing embarrassment. There was her love of general exercise, which had lead him to engaging in many more morning runs then he had expected to go on. Thankfully Cera was forgiving and didn't make him follow her for a 50km run on the first day. The centaur was also quite enamoured with plays and films, devouring as many samurai and historical fiction media she could get her hands on.

Cera meanwhile would occasionally break them off whatever planned route they were doing to try to get Kimihito to adopt more 'noble' hobbies, of which he really had none. She had even managed to succeed to her 'hidden' delight as she convinced Kimihito to start up a small herb and vegetable garden in the backyard. None of these were officially dates, so Kimihito couldn't take her out to some of the places he wanted to, at least not till after he won their battle, and Cera couldn't push him too hard in her attempts to nobilify him.

As for other methods of training? That idea came about when they started training one day. A black haired man in a police uniform on a bicycle rolled up and stopped by them. With a nervous air hanging over him, he was a bit older than Kimihito. Kimihito greeting him before he could speak. "Daizaburo, what brings you around here?"

"Bit of a problem, Kimihito. We got some lowlifes that are skirting the law. You know how it can be." The cop said with a sigh. The japanese-american man and Kimihito were long-time friends from back in highschool. Both were part of the same group, but Daizaburo had become a cop after highschool had finally came to an end. "We can't do anything about them; if only we were so lucky for a random vigilante to teach them a lesson... Or an anonymous source perhaps coming across something the cops could prosecute as well. That'd be nice, wouldn't it?"

"You don't need to give me the description again." Kimihito sighed and waved him off. "Where are they? I'll go give them a stop by today."

One location later, plus a fistbump to send him off, and the cop was on his way again. Kimihito turned to see Cera had short circuited. "Cera? Earth to Cera, you there?" He said, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

"What!" Cera suddenly started after the snap. "That was a police officer! How could he resort to such unlawful methods!"

"Well, this wouldn't be the first time it's happened." Kimihito said with a shrug. "And the guys he asks help dealing with are pretty small time guys. Fresh starts that think they are too smart for the cops. The big names tend to just have agreements that keep many people from getting hurt."

Kimihito turned onto the street and just started walking, Cera pausing for a moment before saying. "Wait, thou cannot be planning to actually go through with this. 'Tis dangerous if nothing else!"

"Nothing I haven't done before. You don't have to come if you want, these ones tend to be a bit more dangerous than not." Kimihito continued down the street, not actually expecting Cera to catch up with him.

"No, I will not leave you to do something dangerous on your own, not until our match has been completed. Though," Cera grabbed Kimihito's shoulder to stop him. "You shouldn't do work like this. It is unbecoming of anyone, not to mention illegal."

"If I don't do it, they'll probably get killed by the local Yakuza." Kimihito shrugged, though his voice was firm. "So I like to think I'm doing these dumbasses a favour, and I'm not going to leave Daizaburo out to hang."

Cera bit on her lower lip, before sighing. There was a bit of a point in there, if she considered it saving the thugs from an even worse fate of falling further into evil. "Fine, I shall accompany you. I shall ensure you will not be harmed before our fight."

"Good, shouldn't take us too long to get there." Kimihito said with a grin, and together they were off again.

The place they needed to get too wasn't to far away, just a run down building with a few scrawny looking 'toughs' outside it. Cera caught another grin on Kimihito's face, this one a bit more...savage for lack of a better word, before the man took off, not even giving the guys a warning before he started to flatten them.

The ensuing fight could barely be called one, as Kimihito cut through most of them like butter. Cera following up and taking out the ones he missed after she recovered from the sight of that grin. It rather worried her, and after they were done dealing with these guys they would have to talk about it.

Soon enough the thugs, who barely had a knife between the dozen of them, were on the ground unconscious, and Kimihito whistled from one of the rooms in the building. "Well, this should be enough to get these guys put away."

Cera popped in and saw a fair bit of stolen merchandise in the room, even as Kimihito was calling up the police about a fight breaking out at the place. As soon as the call was done he grabbed Cera and they got away from the scene before they got caught.

Once they were well in the clear, Kimihito's pace was forced to a sudden halt, anchored down by the stone weight that was a concerned Centoria Shaimus. The centaur woman putting on the brakes and glaring at him. "Kimihito, what was that?"

"What was what?" The human said dismissively.

Cera's eyes narrowed and she said with a demanding tone. "That smile, Kimihito. It was not healthy."

"I like seeing people like that get what's coming to them, what's the problem?" Kimihito replied with a sigh, realizing this wasn't going to go well for him.

"That thou art taking pleasure in the pain of others. That this brutalising occurred is not cause to rejoice! Doing a job like that is one that should not be treated as anything further than just a task to do!" Beating up a bunch of weak thugs was not any real task of justice after all. She almost felt bad for how badly outclassed they had been. "This is the sort of thing only a true delinquent would relish. You should be ashamed!"

Kimihito sighed again, it wasn't the first time someone had scolded him like this, or even used the same logical line. Before he'd have just brushed it off out of hand, but when it came from the blonde centaur, he couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed of himself. Still, a part of him couldn't help but reply automatically as he folded immediately, his tone a bit flippant. "Well I will try to correct my ways, that sound fine? Assuming you beat me that is."

Cera grit her teeth, it wasn't a good answer, Kimihito obviously didn't mean it for now. Though she couldn't really take it further unless she beat him. It very much did grate on her though. She tried to come up with something, before with a sigh of her own she said. "Fine, I'll accept that for now. Just wait though, I shall drill that out of you once you have lost to me!"

-ISoaN-

Because beating up someone was a-okay provided it happened in an arena.

Kimihito's fight came soon enough. Just a few days after filing Daizaburo's request he was back at the arena, his sword casually over his shoulder as he waited for his opponent to step into the ring. Around him the seats were packed, both with human and liminal. It was almost deafening. Especially with Ryuko, Daizaburo and others were parked right behind him and were shouting loud enough to practically drown out the rest.

"You got this boss, smash her ass!" The former shouted. While the latter called out. "Go Kimihito, show this Minotaur that humans can put up a fight!"

He didn't have to wait long before the minotaur girl put in her appearance. Easily dwarfing him by a good few feet, the woman definitely had a reach advantage on him, and the massive and thankfully padded axe she had would certainly do a number on him if it connected.

What he had though, or at least what he hoped he'd have, was the ability to out maneuver her and a willingness to resort to less than completely fair play. Taking the time the announcer was going on to prepare himself mentally, he took deep breaths, watching the woman over for any other obvious weakspots.

The most glaring was that one of the last fighters must have done something to her leg, as the woman had a very slight limp. Her Achilles' heel. He'd have to try to get her to put extra weight on it to trip, that'd give him an easy win.

Then he heard the fight start call and found he had to spring back almost immediately as the large axe crashed to the ground in front of him. The minotaur was fast for her size. Her strikes coming lightning fast, forcing Kimihito back with each narrowly-missing blow.

If he kept going like this then he'd be finished before he began. Nearing his own corner as quickly as he'd left it, he had to make a jump. Kimihito launched himself away to avoid another cleaving attack that certainly would have shattered every bone in his shoulder had he not gotten clear. The sudden, unexpected dodge let him slip by, close enough to hit the minotaur in the shin. The strike did not accomplish much at all, spare getting him a point and an even-angrier minotaur. She huffed with fury as he slipped away again before wheeling around and renewing her assault.

It went like that time and again. Kimihito doing his best to avoid getting struck. When the opportunity arose he'd dart in to occasionally score a point or two. His opponent getting angrier, and angrier, and her axe closer and closer with each scything cleave that didn't connect. It was desperate. Almost cowardly compared to his past form. But it was the best he could manage. He had to admit, it probably wasn't the most interesting thing to watch, just given how few straight up blows there were. But with how much was on the line in the eyes of the human spectators, they awaited each pointed with bated breath.

Kimihito probably shouldn't have been thinking about that though. A lapse in concentration caused him to catch a strike to the side of the chest. He landed with a heavy thump after sailing a few feet in the air, the distinct ringing in his ear and screaming from his side telling him he was, in fact, hurt. It was only through his stubbornness that he could pull himself back onto his feet after that. Even if it was an extremely heavy hit, it wasn't worth more points if it didn't knock him out. Looking up her saw the timer was slowly counting down. A minute more of not getting knocked out and he'd have the win. So he'd just need to lead the bull by the nose. Now if only he had a red cape.

Unfortunately the minotaur was no fool and knew that as well as he did. Her attacks gave him no chance to recover! Strike after strike that he only managed to dodge by a hair, punctuated by fresh and surging pain when another strike sent him flying. The sudden flight followed by more, increasingly desperate and ragged dodging. The man trying his hardest to avoid failing, and only just accomplishing it. When the last whistle rang out, he didn't hear it at first. But there it was. And he had a stellar points lead.

"And the winner is Kimihito Kurusu!" The announcer said, and the raven haired boy couldn't help but grin. A moment before he fell backward and started to take in deep breaths, he wasn't in need of medical attention, but damn was he tired.

The minotaur towered over him with a pout on her face as she said. "Well damn. I don't know why you didn't stay down." She was hard to hear about the cheering crowd, and the incessant ringing in his ears. The woman didn't say anything further before heading off in a huff. Maybe she'd be better after walking it off. Picking himself up and heading toward the stands, Kimihito threw a fist in the air.

"Nice one, boss! Real nice!" Ryuko cheered.

"Is there any one of these people who can even make you sweat?" Daki wrapped his arm around the boss' shoulder.

"Well," Kimihitio brushed his arm off before he realised he was tired, "probably whoever makes it to the end."

"After that, boss? The centaur, easily. Goldilocks was looking scary in her last win; the catgirl tried sniping for her life, like what you did with that oversized cow, but the horse was just too firm! I wish I could tell you what to do there, but it looks hard. You probably know better than me anyway, right? You've been scouting her out since she got here. Well, what's your verdict? Had a good time? She got any soft spots?"

Before the boss could give him an evil eye, Ryuko yanked Daki back by wrapping an arm around his neck. "What he means to say is 'good luck!'"

Kimihito winked at the two. "I'm going to talk with her now, as a matter of fact. It should make for good RnR."

Once the boss was out of earshot, Ryuko tightened her chokehold on Daki as he squirmed in her grip. "You idiot! Are you oblivious or something?!"

"Aren't you? You think a babe being part-horse makes the boss less likely to ride her!?"

-ISoaN-

The next day, both Cera and Kimihito were wandering downtown. She was nibbling on a vegetarian sandwich, while Kimihito was pointing out interesting places. Currently they were in a less wealthy part of town. For its looks, he knew a few great places to hang out in. Despite the grime on the streets and graffiti on the walls, Cera found it easy to see, and easier still to believe him..

They were just turning the corner onto the next street when they heard a woman cry out. "Stop that thief!" A moment before a moped nearly crashed into them both, Centorea reacting faster than Kimihito and pulling Kimihito away from the speeding bike. "Watch out!"

Kimihito, having been caught by surprise was pulled into a rather...suffocating embrace. Centorea's massive airbags had proven quite soft and kept Kimihito from feeling even a modicum of pain at the sudden, jarring impact. He'd have been a lot more thankful for her massive mammaries if only he could breathe through them.

Centorea noticed the position when Kimihito reflexively squeezed his hand, which had been over the centaur's other breast in an attempt to get her attention. After a flush caused more by some lewd thoughts then outright embarrassment, Cera let him go and gave him a little push. "We must catch that thief!"

"Well, he's on a moped, so I'm not sure how you are expecting me to catch up!" Kimihito, matching the the urgent tone with a touch of helpless irritation.

Centorea's blush grew brighter for a moment. "G-Get on my back, I can keep up with that villain's vehicle."

"Er… Okay." Kimihito felt there was...something off about Centorea's demeanor when she said that. He attributed it though to the girl being embarrassed about being used like a normal horse, and hopped on, settling himself in like he was on a motorcycle. The only issue was that...he had absolutely no idea where to put his hands. Eventually he settled on Cera's shoulders.

This proved to be a very poor choice, as he drastically underestimated Centorea's speed. The woman easily reached the speed of the moped, and given the rough ride his hands ended up drifting toward somewhere a bit easier to grab.

"Unhand me Kimihito! That is not an acceptable place to put your hands!" Cera shouted as they closed on the snatcher, thundering down the pavement as she charged full gait around a wide corner to follow her mark. With a tick of realisation, Kimihito's mind having been on a desperate attempt not to be thrown to his almost certain death, he became aware of exactly what he was clinging onto for dear life with an unconscious squeeze that brought a fresh whine of protest from the centaur. On instinct, he tried to do as she'd asked, taking his palms from enormous chest for all of a millisecond before the neck up-buck of her gallop nearly threw him clear.

He let out a half-scream an octave higher than he'd ever admit, and grabbed back down, shaking his head vehemently as thrills of panic chased through his mind, mixing subtly with the reflection of just how soft she was to produce a myriad of fantasies, each one cut short by the fresh buck of her gait that nearly left him a stain on the pavement behind them..

"I don't have anywhere else to grab!" Kimihito shouted urgently as he instead gripped tighter. "You're going like twenty over the speed limit and I don't have a seatbelt." Perhaps, he reflected between moments of perverse fantasizing and bouts utter, primal terror, if his hands weren't so comfortable there, he might have been able to move them. But when else was he going to get a chance to feel these truly titillating tits?

Centorea just bit her lip and let it pass, focusing on the man they were now only a few feet behind, ready to overtake, thunder in front of, and force to a stop. Just as she was about to make her move, the man hit the gas on his moped and caught a hard turn. Centorea followed the turn through wide, making Kimihito's grip tighten from an equal-parts self-satisfactory and practical hold on her chest, to a death grip of purest fear, all lewd thoughts flushed his mind as he swung over her side with the force of the turn. He was nearly dragged along the ground beside her before another jump as she cleared a fallen rubbish-bin righted him, more lying than sitting on her back now. Just as he regained a mounted posture, hands, returning, much to her moaning chagrin, to her chest, the snatcher smashed through a waiting pallet of office-cooler tanks. The plastic containers of water soared through the air in a graceful parabola that she, in the narrow alley, was charging straight into. Certain the way was well and truly blocked, the thief turned back to shout at them. "Give up goody two shoes!"

"Curses, hold on Kimihito. This is about to get difficult." Cera said as she drew her sword and cleft her way through the rain of jugs as Kimihito clung to hers.. The poor plastic containers stood no chance, and as they were cut to ribbons, water sprayed over both Kimihito and Centorea in an artificial rain. They were blindsided, and when the pair of heros looked again they saw the purse thief crashing into a builder's scaffold being used to re-coat the outside of an warehouse. He thrown off in an explosion of paint cans that flew violently in every direction. Every colour of the rainbow slicking the pavement under her hooves, Centorea skittered and slid, her balance going a moment later as momentum carried her tripping, tumbling body, albeit much softer, into the wrecked scaffolds a moment later.

The reason for the thief's crash became apparent as Kimihito woke himself from the daze caused by the crash, namely that Cera's nipples were visible through her wet shirt, her breasts apparently as magnetic to the thief's eyes as they'd been to Kimihito's hands. His centaur companion was concussed by the impact, and wasn't able to react when the thief picked up her sword.

"That was my bike you just wrecked, horse bitch!"

But Kimihito was steady, and with bokken in hand he leapt in front of the man's swing. Easily blocking the strike and countering with a sharp blow to the man's leg hard enough to break it with a single impact. He followed up with a heavy swing that caught him in the wrist, shattering it as well and causing the thief to cry out in pain, drop the weapon, and stumble, about when the third bone-fracturing stroke caught him in the forehead,, sending him into the realms of unconsciousness.

Spitting beside the downed man, Kimihito growled. "Bastard." Then he turned to his companion and held out a hand to help her up. "You alright, Cera?"

Just as he asked that, the sun passed behind, catching the water still hanging in the air in a brilliant, radiant sheen of glowing, warm colours.

Perhaps it was the light concussion she just got, but Cera felt strange. In that moment, after what he had done and was doing, the boy was now a rather dashing sight. Like a knight from the great stories, the ones she could fall into of a fantasy over.

A fantasy where she was bowing before a noble lord, pledging her services and eternal loyalty in the name of virtue. Pledging her body to a hero and…

"Earth to Cera? Hello? You alright? Or did that concussion do a bit more than expected?" Kimihito leaned in and checked Cera's eyes. He had seen more than enough injuries to know what to look for.

Cera shook her head and blushed. "Ahh, I'm fine. Thank you for the concern, however. We should get this man turned over to the police and head home. Neither of us would want to be too injured for tomorrow's clash."

Kimihito chuckled and helped Cera up. He was surprised by Cera's surprisingly soft hands, while at the same time Cera was surprised at just how rough Kimihito's were. The moment their hands linked, the centaur locked up, back in her dreamland, forcing Kimihito to have to stir her back to earth again. Returning the purse and carting the criminal to the police station were simple enough, though a few of the cops were surprised at Kimihito handing someone in.

-ISoaN-

Finals day, at long last. As expected, Kimihito and Centorea had both reached the last stage, leaving their duel still fully good to go. At that very moment, both were in their various change rooms, trying to center themselves, though Kimihito wasn't alone in his, as Daizaburo was there as well, psyching him up. Also in the room was Matthew Clement of all people. The latter had shown up out of nowhere, and sported a rather noticeable scowl even as he came in. "I cannot believe someone as uncouth as yourself is the last human in this competition." The frenchman held up a hand to try to forestall any return comments. "Despite that, you are the last.. Man." He paused to snicker, giving Kimihito a chance to sigh at man's humour. "standing." So on behalf of all the other competitors I am here to tell you to win. The fighting honour of the entire human race rests squarely on your barbaric shoulders. Understood, monsieur?"

"Heh, will do frenchie." A raised eyebrow told Kimihito that Matthew didn't care for the nickname, but he didn't interrupt. "Now get out of here before you say something smug and the floor gets a frog-shaped mosaic." Kimihito sniggered half-jokingly, and the frenchman took his leave.

Daizaburo chuckled. "Really didn't think he'd show up. Thought he'd have buggered off to France by now. Still," The cop turned his attention back to his friend. "guess he's right, there are a lot of people out there, and heard they are even televising this match. You think you can handle it?"

Kimihito pushed himself to his feet and started to head for the door. "I'll be fine, didn't care for anyone's opinions before so I'm not going to start now. They can have all the expectations they want and I'll be going into this like normal."

"Well good luck, and watch out for Ryuko on the way out, she's planning to shout in your ear." Daizaboro waved him off.

A feminine voice shouted from behind the door of the room. "Dammit Daiza, you ruined the surprise!"

Walking past the now 'disarmed' trap Ryuko set, he gave the girl a thumbs up and just kept walking. Heading out into the arena where he saw that the stands were indeed packed to the gunnels. The place must have been sold out with a mix of humans and monsterpeople, and the noise reinforced that. The general din was loud enough that it practically thrummed through him, and he could see Cera coming out from her own entrance looking at the crowds with mixed awe and trepidation. As the ref walked onto the arena himself Kimihito took a long, deep breath to focus himself and drown out the crowd, and saw his centaur counterpart do the same. It was a fight both of them wanted to win. Indeed, he wanted to win it before, but with the new bet they had laid down yesterday, that eagerness to prove her wrong had redoubled his determination.

"Good luck Cera." Kimihito gave the centaur a lazy salute as the judges got ready and the match was on the verge of starting.

"Good luck yourself, Kimihito." Centorea gave a half bow, not letting herself get embarrassed at the nickname. When she straightened back up the referee finally completed his walk forward and explained the rules, for the nth time for them both. There was an audible beat, and all the training in the world couldn't stop either of them tensing with anticipation.

The ref's hand dropped, and the fight was on.

Neither struck first. Instead the two began to circle. Both of them were defensive fighters, and both determined to win. The two were content to wait, poised for any advantage that would give them an opening to strike. The first to strike came to Kimihito, as the centaur's trotting gait exposed her side from the reach of her guard. Batting Centorea's sword to the side and striking her wrist. He quickly lost the advantage when she recovered with a fury. A masterful strike in what humans would call the German style as she reposted, hooked his blade with her handguard, and delivered a heavy stroke to the stomach that staggered him backwards.

They broke apart then, the centaur wary of being lured, and Kimihito couldn't help but grin despite the sting. The first two blows and they had both scored a single point. This would definitely be more interesting if nothing else. The two struck again, and again, and again. Each time Kimihito scored a hit, Cera would score one a moment later before he could retreat to a strong enough guard to stop a counterattack from leveling the points and visa versa.

They would keep like this for five minutes, then ten. The crowd that watched on their toes as they waited for either of the fighters to actually get a lead as the ring of clashing weapons and the shout of hits being counted stayed level. Just as the two seperated from yet another even skirmish, the referee blew his whistle and declared the time had run out. It only took the judges a moment to declare the fight a tie, and that a rematch would be needed.

"Heh, well I can keep going if you are up for it Centorea." Kimihito said with a grin, and nodded to the centaur girl.

"Of course, a single battle would not be enough to tire a noble warrior such as myself." The blond replied, and the referee and judges agreed to have the rematch now if they were ready.

The next fight went much the same as the first, neither could get the upperhand. By minute ten they were both trying whatever they could to get even a single point advantage. Kimihito felt himself start to sweat, and tried to slide under Centorea's guard. When that earned him a smarting blow in the forehead, he tried to blow through it. The failure nearly netted her a lead as he barely got a counting hit in on her wrist before she recovered her stance

Centorea on the other hand started to try to throw her weight around a bit more, using her mass to force Kimihito back, with considerably more success, gaining ground slowly on him. She also didn't realize it, but she had a different bit that was helping her. Namely the sweat was causing her thin shirt to become transparent, much like it had during the chasing of the purse thief. The bouncing distractions being more than enough to cost Kimihito a hit or two, though the others watching on were too far away to get the same sight.

Not to say he didn't have much the same effect on Cera. As the fight wore on the sleeveless top he had decided to wear started to stick to him and the muscles along his arms bulged with exertion. The remainder of Kimihito's musculature started a very short lived fantasy in her mind about him being strong enough to carry her princess style. The only reason it had been cut short was that he got a tap on her stomach that shook her awake, costing her the single point lead she'd so desperately won.

In the end though despite their best efforts. The second round was coming to a close, they could practically feel the countdown in their head as they continued their attempts to pull ahead, the panting, desperate clashes growing longer and more aggressive. Then just as it came to '2', Centorea tripped. The horse woman spilled forward and caught Kimihito's bokken in the stomach, crashing onto the boy a moment later, just as the match was called to an end.

As the dust cleared though, it wasn't as clear cut as the cheering crowd thought; Centorea's sword was still in her grip, and had fallen against Kimihito's neck, pinning him to the floor.

"It is a tie once again." Said the announcer. "And as such, the judges declare that both fighters have fought to an honourable standstill, as they have both proven to be extremely skilled. A mutual victory."

"What?" A spectator cried out. "A tie!?"

"Do it again!" A monstergirl clamoured. "She almost had him!"

The crowd dissented into arguments from that. Strong fans of one contestant were looking for any opening to say they were winning. Moderates who cared to discuss it challenged back, for despite all the pride at stake in people's minds, the battle itself mattered most. Fans of Centorea defended Kimihito; fans of Kimihito defended Centorea. The air was anything but agitated, but an astonished appreciation. And this whole discussion was happening to everyone watching it on television too.

The combatants, however, were tied on the ground. Kimihito couldn't help but chuckle, even as he flushed out of a mix of exertion; he had dreamt of having Cera's bosom pressed against him, but not quite like this. "Well, does that mean we both lost the bet? Or did we both win?"

Cera couldn't help but blush a bit herself at how they were pressed together. "Well...I do not think I would mind going on a date with thineself."

"And I guess I can try to be more noble." Kimihito whispered back. "Afterall, wouldn't want to piss off my girlfriend would I?" The raven-haired boy going from snickering into much more noticeable laughter when Cera blushed so deeply that he could see what he swore was steam rising out of her ears.

Even as the crowd around them continued their argument, Cera pulled herself up and off Kimihito, offering a hand that was soon taken. A few would notice, but most didn't as the contestants walked off out of the arena hand in hand, not even stopping in the changing rooms on their way home.

-ISoaN-

Two days after the end of the tournament, Kimihito had picked for the date. He had had to deal with a day of teasing at Daizaburo's the day before, which was where the suit he was currently wearing was from, graciously donated by his policeman friend. His hair, tamed into something pretending to be looking proper was thanks to Ryuko. The black haired girl had produced a giant pair of scissors out of somewhere but he wasn't going to question it given she was the one with the scissors and he was the one sitting with her right behind him at the time.

Cera meanwhile didn't need to wear anything more formal than her normal clothing, though she couldn't help herself from making sure her outfit was perfect beforehand. Running over her skirt with a lint brush, making sure there wasn't even a bit of staining on her white top. Just as she was leaving the room to meet Kimihito in the hallway she even made a rather bold change for herself. She reached back and took off the band she used to tie her hair back into a ponytail, letting her blond locks fall around her in a waterfall.

Kimihito was stunned. The man let his mouth hang open and behold her in a wide eyed look as she stepped out of her room.

"I...guess you like it then?" Centorea laughed, flattered.

"'Like it' is an understatement." Kimihito spluttered after he shook himself back to his senses. "Though now I worry I'll have to deal with even more jealous looks then I was going to get before. For now, though," Kimihito grinned and gave a butler's bow. "After you, milady."

Even if it was obviously meant to be overdramatic, Cera couldn't help but flush again as she walked past. The blond haired woman having a small smile on her face as she did. "It's a start, Kimihito, but you will have to do more to be a good hero."

"I'll take 'a start.'" Kimihito said as he stepped out behind her and closed the door.

-ISoaN-

The restaurant the two found themselves in had been re-arranged to allow larger breeds of monsterpeople to be clientele. Centorea wasn't even the largest liminal there, as there was a snake woman whose tail had to be the better part of twenty feet long. With their food and drinks ordered, Kimihito asked. "So, Cera, how long are you planning to stay here now that the tournament was done?"

"Well, I have clearance to stay here as long as I want actually...The rules of the visa say I am here to find my partner." Cera said, her voice trailing off as she spoke and her blush grew. The last words were so quiet that Kimihito wasn't able to catch them exactly though he got the gist.

"That's great." Kimihito let the mumbled words pass without comment. He could already guess about it, given Cera's blush. "Then as long as you are staying here you can use the room at my house then."

Centorea blushed harder. "That would be very helpful thank you Kimihito though...Well...By my visa's requirements. You are volunteering to be my permanent...host."

"Sounds like there is a bit more to it then that Cera." Kimihito said a bit confused. "Come on you can tell me. If I haven't done anything to yah yet, I'm not going to." His old highschool accent came out in the last line. Potentially to remind Centorea about how if he really was going to be a bastard, he probably would have done it long before now.

"Well...when you r-rode on my back chasing that thief...It is seen as…" She paused, and a horrible thought came into Kimihito's mind, the feeling of the pit of his stomach falling out punctuating her words."the equivalent of a marriage in centaur communities…" Cera's voice was practically a squeak.

Kimihito's own reaction wasn't much better, the man's jaw hanging open the second for that day as he thought it over, before his mind caught up and he turned as red as Cera was. "W-Well...then...I...You know what...I would be lying to say I would mind being married to a girl like you Cera…" He paused, chewing his lip, looking for the right words, "But it's only been a week since we got re-acquainted. Maybe we should just stick with dating for a bit?"

Cera locked up again at Kimihito's words, her face a tomato red until with a furious nod she returned to the world and said with a small smile "Yes...that sounds good. I look forward to the coming weeks Kimihito."

"Same, now though let's just enjoy the evening okay? We can talk about this more tomorrow or something." Kimihito's expression turned slowly back to his normal half cocky grin as food arrived, and the two settled back into a more comfortable mood for the rest of the evening.

Or they did for a time, until something visibly clicked in Cera's head, and she dropped the salt-shaker in her hand straight into her plate. "Ohh no, my mother is surely going to come when she hears!"

-ISoaN-

Luckily, it seemed that Cera's mother wasn't hearing of it any time soon, and Cera was not eager to tell her yet. Instead the new couple spent the weeks following doing as new couples do. Going on small tentative dates, even the small trips like those they had made before the final battle of the tournament were tainted with the awkwardness of being something more than friends now.

As it was Cera's prim and proper nature, and the vestiges of Kimihito's nice guy personality had kept that relation quite chaste so far. Not even a proper kiss yet, though the raven haired boy was planning to change that today. Today he was bringing Cera to the best place around here that he could think of for her.

Namely, a massive samurai museum exhibit that was opening today.

Needless to say, she was fangasming over it. As soon as they had gotten through the door stars had lit into her eyes and he had to hold her back from charging in and potentially doing some damage to something. "Let us start with the swords! I heard they were tempered very finely."

Kimihito chuckled a bit, significant effort was put into those blades of yore, but that was because the steel was terrible and they needed to make something functional. He didn't want to pop Cera's bubble though, so he let her keep gushing over the many blades the room had.

There were a few there that interested him though, swords with long lineages. Ones that went back centuries and were still preserved. Though he had to chuckle at one listed as a daemon slaying sword. Everyone always thought it was just fanciful language of history, but given daemons were real…

"I wish I could wield one of these blades." Cera said as her face was nearly pressed against the glass of one sword listed as the Hina Blade, and a large nodachi, the Monohoshizao sat in the large box as well. Kimihito half wondered if Cera could wield the latter like a regular sword instead of the massive blade it was.

"Same," Kimihito said from behind Cera, a bright grin on his face at seeing the centaur girl's happiness. "Would be pretty cool to have a sword that ended up in history."

"The only thing that could have been better would have been to carry King Arthur's blade or Odysseus' bow." Cera pulled back, and then grabbed Kimihito's hand once again, her fingers were both hard, calloused from years of wielding a sword constantly, and surprisingly soft, gliding along his own hands with almost cool grace backed up by firm muscles.

Though it wasn't the softest part of her he had felt, as her jerking came to a sudden halt and his forward motion was stopped by a quick bounce off two very soft airbags before a strong arm wrapped around his back and pressed him into them. Cera was gushing over something else at the moment, but he couldn't see or hear what she was saying given he was currently buried in the rather warm bosom of his girlfriend.

He was rather expecting Cera to push him away when she realized what his position was, but Kimihito didn't estimate just how engrossed the centaur was in the current exhibit. So soon enough he found himself with a new problem, namely a dire need for the intake of oxygen.

So he did what he could to free himself, namely by clamping his hands around those airbags, squeezing them even as he tried to push himself away. Managing to get just enough space to breath, and saw that Cera was now bright red, and her skin was getting hotter by the moment against his hands even through her clothes.

"S-So bold, in public even!" Cera sputtered, her usual reaction gone for reasons unknown to Kimihito. "T-Though I guess there is nobody else here right now…"

Indeed, Kimihito saw the room was empty, not surprising as there were not that many here even at the entrance. Though he was surprised to turn back and see Cera's face just inches from his own.

That shock faded fast though, and he quickly moved forward and captured those tantalizingly close lips in a kiss out of the blue. Though given how Cera responded in kind he was fairly sure it wasn't as out of the blue as one might have thought.

He was a bit caught off guard by one thing though, her lips were even softer than her breasts. So soft that he could hardly let them go whenever their lips locked. Or when he did let go, it was only to quickly kiss them again. But holding that kiss was even sweeter. He'd hold her for longer and longer until they heard a rather to the point cough behind them, and the two separated in a flash to see a curator standing there.

They promptly left the building because of Cera's blush and worry at being caught like that, with Kimihito literally flying behind her as he was pulled along, the two coming to a rather rapid stop once more when they got to the front door of Kimihito's house.

"H-haa, to think someone saw me doing that...I apologize for embarrassing you, Kimihito. I did not expect for someone to walk in on us like that."

Kimihito's cocky grin was only matched by his posture. "But you are not embarrassed about the kiss?"

"...Noitwasnice…" Cera's words came in a rapid barrage and rather quietly, but it wasn't garbled enough for Kimihito to not hear it.

"Heh," Kimihito opened the door and ushered them both inside as soon as the door was closed he asked he said. "Sooo, want to continue?"

"...Yes." Cera squeaked out, and with that threw her sheepishness to the wind. She grabbed Kimihito in an instant and pulled him back into the kiss.

Responding in kind, Kimihito would start to to try to edge them both toward Cera's room. A rather difficult task given he was currently being held a few inches off the ground by his amorous liminal housemate. Still he managed through some serious nudging, especially when they were up for air, to get them where they wanted.

Plopping down onto her bedding, Cera was panting hard. The centaur's breath was coming out so hot that she was making small puffs of steam. Sweat causing her top to become quite seethrough, much to Kimihito's viewing pleasure.

Not to say the black haired man was doing much better, his own breath was coming in ragged breath and he felt himself straining against the suit pants. He started to shed his overwear at the very least before it could get further ruffled then it already was. Actually taking the time to put the suit jacket on a hook that Cera normally used for her sword, though before he could turn around he felt two very soft mounds pressing against the back of his shoulder and his head.

"Kimihito...w-would you m-mind if we took it a bit further than kissing?" Cera asked in a quiet tone as she rubbed against him a bit. "I...I don't think I am up to take it all the way...but…"

Kimihito replied by turning and putting himself to his tippytoes, kissing the girl again for a moment. "Heh, not going to say no Cera. Just tell me when you've had enough."

Cera nodded, and a moment later grabbed Kimihito's hands and pulled him back toward her futon, pulling him down to his knees while she laid down. The position putting their upper bodies more or less on the same level. A moment later she'd use that same grip to bring Kimihito's hands to her breasts, pushing him against the clothing clad skin. Not wanting to disappoint, Kimihito started to squeeze and rub the girl's gigantic globes of flesh, marveling in their softness and elasticity.

The effects on Cera were instantly noticeable, a moan slipping past her lips and her skin heated up another few degrees, practically burning his hands through her shirt, but he definitely wasn't going to complain. The centaur didn't seem to really know how to respond in kind though, and her hands squeezed against his side and back with confusion while the kiss deepened.

Like that, as a tangle of tongues and limbs, they'd continue their rather heavy makeout session for the rest of the hour. By the end they were both still fully clothed, Kimihito having chickened out a bit and avoided undoing Cera's top and feeling her directly, and Cera was still too nervous herself to ask. The room though had a rather heavy scent in it, pheremones and musk that tempted them both to go just a step further...

But as the night closed they both found themselves in separate rooms, though how long that would last...well... probably not that much longer.

* * *

 **A/N 2:** **Ranger:** Wow I can't believe everyone's voting for Ms. Smith.

 **Ms. Smith:** They have all these lovely monster girls to pick and they are voting for little old me. My, maybe I should be worried about your audience.

 **Cathyl:** Damn, and here I was hoping my lead would keep going, I wanted to make an appearance before I had to go up against obvious wins like Polt and Miia.

 **Smith:** Mmm, I can't wait to get my hands on Darling-kun.

 **Ranger:** Well we still have another chapter and the epilogue before the poll closes. So who knows what could happen! Maybe Smith's lead will widen, maybe Cathyl will make a come back, maybe poor old Luz will get more then one vote. Stay tuned, and to all you 209 people who have followed this story, you should vote! The future of the arcs rests on your shoulders!

 **Oct:** Three times in the polls and I keep getting stuck in third place, maybe I'm cursed?


	9. Chapter 9: Stallion Suitor

**A/N:** Well, I got this out sooner then later, so hope you're all happy! :P The poll has come to a close with Cathyl taking the win, and by the time you see this there should be a new poll up for Arc 5 with Ms. Smith and Papi being carried over to the next poll as they came in second and third respectively. Hope you all like this, and as always, like, hate, see something you think could change, leave a review. I feed on your reviews! Also no A/N 2 this time, and there will not be an epilogue this time, if I started writing one it would end up becoming a whole nother arc on its own.

 **Content Warning:** There is a Lemon in this chapter, it is marked.

 **Disclaimer:** Don't own DLWMG, though Crabman might be happy because cow girl's coming up.

* * *

 **Arc 3, Chapter 3: Stallion Suitor**

Another day, another challenge. Just another hurdle to jump over with grace, poise, and skill. She'd show this challenge just how inconsequential it was in the grand scheme of things, for one does not simply stand before Centoria Shianus' goal and get away with it.

It was with this mindset that the resident centaur of the Kurusu household tackled her latest problem, preparing a dinner that wasn't just a salad. As a herbivore her tastebuds were to a humans as a humans were to a rock, a carrot gave her a hundred different flavours, and a salad was a veritable cornucopia of mouth numbing bliss.

Unfortunately, Kimihito was _not_ a herbivore, so he lacked the incredible ability to taste that she had, and as such her carrot and lettuce sandwiches were...unsatisfying for a full meal for him. Meanwhile his own meals that he prepared for her had more than once nearly caused her to have a shameful incident while she ate they tasted so heavenly.

So now she'd show that she could cook just as well, and as such she needed to branch out into things that she normally wouldn't use in her cooking. Things like spices, and sauces, and rice and the like. Indeed, she was currently using all of those to try to make some sort of vegetarian curry. It seemed to be going well so far though, the kitchen wasn't on fire, she was following the instructions to the letter, and it smelled pretty good.

All in all she was happy with how the result was going so far, and she had been smart enough to wear one of Kimihito's aprons, so her clothes weren't covered in sauce. She had been a bit surprised at seeing Kimihito in one of the aprons before, but despite his exterior appearance, at home he did not seem to worry about appearing in such clothes.

Cera did wish though that the apron didn't seem quite so...bursting against her chest. The thought brought a blush to her face, and she couldn't help but scrunch up the apron a bit in her hands. While she would have been much less happy about her figure a few days ago. Ever since she and Kimihito had formally stepped up their relationship, she was starting to appreciate her own figure instead of considering herself to be plain and her breasts to be just in the way.

Kimihito seemed to love everything about her body. While they still hadn't gone any further then they had that first night, just rather intense makeout and petting sessions, Kimihito had made his appreciation of her well known. Everything from teasing her ears, much to her surprised delight, to spending the time to brush her horse halfs hair. It was rather difficult for her to reach those spots so it was quite helpful to have him around to help with it, but when she wasn't holding the brush it made it feel...much more sinful almost. It made her blush, and her mind slipped into memories of it all. She was so used to treating herself as a warrior that the new feelings were threatening to overwhelm her and make her go back to the room and wake him up for another round.

Then Cera realized the curry sauce was starting to burn and broke out of her little memory trip to stir it before she ruined her meal. Stirring it with a bit more gusto than required just to be sure. Now that she was certain it wasn't going to burst into flames, she sighed. She was having a fair bit more difficult a time keeping her attention focused these days as well. Whenever she wasn't distracting herself her with important things like training, her mind would wander, either toward her regular knightly fantasies, and more recently toward things nearly in red dream territory. Mostly taking memories of what happened and extending them a bit further…

Shaking her head again, Cera looked over at the wall calender, and saw that the full moon was coming up. That would likely explain most of her problem, every day closer to that full moon made it harder and harder for her to keep her more base emotions in check. She was nervous, nervous about what would happen on the full moon, and nervous about whatever did happen between them would mean. She'd have to warn Kimihito about it today at the very least so that he could properly prepare.

Soon enough she finished cooking her meal, and called out to Kimihito, who was resting upstairs in his room after she had given him a rather severe drubbing in their training that morning. He'd seemed a bit distracted, even moreso then she had been, and she had taken advantage of that to knock him six ways from sunday. She heard the man practically roll off his bed upstairs, and pulled himself down to the main floor. "Haaaah... Smells good Cera." He chuckled, sounding pleasantly surprised. "Curry?"

"Indeed. I used one of the recipes in your cookbooks." Cera returned with a small smile as she saw the ragged boy shuffling into the room. She had gone quite tough on him, it was rather hard not to with how strong the two were, but she was sure he'd recover by the end of the day. Dishing out a bowl for him and a fair bit larger one for herself, she watched him intently, scrutinising for a reaction as she waited for him to take his first bite.

Kimihito meanwhile looked down at the curry for a moment, it smelled good, it looked good, generally things Cera made were at least fairly good if bland. Reasoning that it looked like a duck, and quacked like a duck, with perhaps more confidence than was justified, he tucked in with a large spoonful, and then a second before the taste of the first hit.. 'Exactly as I'd expect from Cera,' He thought with a hint of satisfaction. 'Conservative, moderate… Spicy? Actually _quite_ spicy... Sweet merciful Kami above, was that spicy!'.

He reached out with perhaps more urgency than was polite to take a drink of the milk that Cera had set out, having read that milk was better for dealing with spicy food. After a few large sips, and a moment for his tastebuds to stop screaming at him, he chuckled.. "It's good! Next time I'd go with less spices, but other then that; good. You might be in for a bit of a treat though when you try it."

Cera, having been on a rollercoaster of emotion and tension as she watched Kimihito try her first semi-successful venture into curry, now looked at her plate with apprehension, the chuckle he'd punctuated with only making it worse. She was too proud to turn her nose up at it, but was clinically aware of just how much she'd probably overcompensated for her sensitive pallet. A moment, and a spoonful later she was swallowing milk and curry in alternate rushes of burning and spice was blowing out her tastebuds and, glass empty, she reached for the fridge and pulled out the milk jug. She rushed through the rest of her portion as fast as she could and washed it down with the milk afterwards, she lost most of the taste but at least she finished her bowl without killing herself with the spice.

It was only once the milk was actually doing its work at the end that Cera caught Kimihito's now full blown laughter, the man having practically rolled out of his chair from the sight of a centaur, red in the face, spoon like a coal-shovel tossing food into her burning lips, punctuating each desperate-for-it-to-end gorging with a fresh, chugging swig from a milk-jug. Face burning red from something other than heat now, she took her sheathed sword, and bopped him none-too-gently about the head with it. "It is impolite to laugh at a lady."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." Kimihito giggled from the ground, and pulled himself back into his seat. "You looked socute doing that I just had to laugh!" The black haired man grinned at Cera's renewed blush at being called cute and started to work his way through his own meal. The woman was too easy to tease, and the look she'd get on her face when she got embarassed was nothing short of adorable so he couldn't help himself there either.

Cera took a while to calm down, and Kimihito was halfway through his meal when she collected herself enough to speak out. "On a more serious note, there is something I need to tell you about Kimihito. In two days it will be the full moon, and I don't know if you have read about it, but I will be...different during it. Though...there might be a way to avert it..."

"Ohh?" Kimihito said with a raised eyebrow. If he knew, he wasn't making it obvious, "What would that be? And different how?"

"Well…On the full moon, the baser emotions of liminals tend to come to the surface, and usually it's ones that...Are most neglected." Cera said with a bright blush, after all, her mother never had that issue after she had married and they had started...going at it. "So we may be able to avoid causing an...incident…if we...go... _astepfarther_."

Kimihito was practically leaning over the table trying to hear what Cera was saying, with each pause she got quieter, until the last words came out as a barely perceptible squeak. Still he managed to catch it, and couldn't help but blush a bit herself. "I...see...Well, if you want to, Cera, I'm not going to say no." Indeed, if he could, he'd push hard for it, but he was trying to be more polite in accord with their little bet.

Cera herself practically lit up like a christmas tree, and she didn't realize it but a small smile came to her face as well. She had to admit, she was worried about Kimihito not wanting to go forward after he had learned that her...parts...were on the horse side, not the human side. Then she realized that he actually _had_ said yes, and her voice nearly caught in her throat. "Okaythenmaybewecanthisnightjustcometomyroom!"

If it was English or Japanese she didn't actually know, and she didn't manage to stay to see if he had heard. The girl barreling out of the room and unknowingly damaging a few things in the hall on her embarrassed sprint to her room.

Kimihito shook his head, and couldn't help but feel nervous himself. Many a man was a bit nervous when he had a first time with a girl, and while Kimihito was not a virgin, he hadn't had relations in that way in some time. Not to mention, he _really_ didn't want to fuck this up, and well...she was a horse. He had some pride in his body, but he wasn't a horse. Though when he was doing…research…he thought he had seen something about liminals adjusting to their partners so maybe he'd be okay.

Better do a bit more...research...just to be sure. He wouldn't want to let Cera down.

-ISoaN-

Cera was frantic as the sun dipped over the horizon. She wanted this but she had no idea what 'this' really was! She had seen some things that let her know what was expected of her but those included only human females. She was fairly sure she wasn't able to contort her body to make some of those positions possible. It made her worry that she wouldn't be enough…

Then she slapped herself on the cheek, getting down on herself over something like this. What kind of thinking was that. She would take this like she took everything, she'd do her best and it'd work!

-ISoaN **Lemon Warning** -

"...This isn't working." Cera said to herself as she bowed her head and bit her lip. She couldn't help it, she was nervous! It was her first time! What would it feel like, would it hurt? It apparently did for humans. Would she regret it? She didn't think she'd regret it. While she and Kimihito only knew each other for a bit more than a month so far, they were by centaur standards…married… She mulled the word over in her mind before feeling slightly unwell with anxiety. This was going to happen eventually, she determined, and tried to push her trepidation down.

Should she wear something different to start? While she didn't like to admit it, and had made sure to hide them from her housemate, she _did_ have some clothes that could only be called indecent. Standing up and heading over to her closet she dug into the back, behind her normal wear, and pulled out one of her favourites for sleeping. A negligee that was so see through it might as well have been non-existent, but it was so comfortable. It only covered her human half but that was how more or less everything but her regular skirt was like.

Taking off her button-up shirt, she slipped on the nightware, and revelled a bit in the soft feeling against her skin. It helped to calm herself down, and she wandered into the bathroom that was attached to her bedroom, looking at herself in the mirror and blushing. Even before Kimihito was here she felt indecent in the silky garment, and couldn't help but touch her breasts lightly. They were so much more sensitive than they were just a short while ago, Kimihito's playing with them having brought her some new sensations and her light, massaging touch made her sigh with subtle satisfaction.

When she opened her eyes again, an idea coming to her as she remembered one thing that has stopped Kimihito dead before. She reached back and let her ponytail free, her hair cascading over her shoulders. Hopefully, the centaur reflected, that might give her a bit of an edge back.

She heard a small rap on her door and 'eeped' quietly. Taking a moment to swallow down her nervousness she surprised herself with the tone of her voice, bearing more confidence, and indeed, sultry allure, then she was aware she was capable of. "Come in Kimihito."

She heard the door slide and turned away from the mirror, stepping back into her room. The sight of Kimihito standing there in a rather standard set of pajamas was only glazed over as she focused on the look on his face. The man was once again stunned, staring at her with wide eyes as she stepped into the room entirely. She couldn't help but giggle, and, riding her newfound confidence high, she kept up the bewitching tone. "See something you like Kimihito?"

"Y-Yes I do, everything really." His dumbstruck reaction made her flush; even more so when he nodded and gave a grin that sent a shiver through her. Her facade dropped quickly and her nervousness came back, though at the very least she saw hints of the same nervousness in her boyfriend. Perhaps he was just better at hiding it.

"T-That's good…" Cera came a bit closer, and couldn't help but clasp her hands at her waist, unknowingly emphasising her chest and nearly causing the poor Kimihito to bust a few blood vessels. "U-Umm, m-maybe we should s-start slow?"

"That w-would be for the best yeah." Kimihito said with a nod, and Cera met him halfway across the room. The man helping her sit so that he could actually reach her mouth to give her a kiss. The centaur responding with even more eagerness than Kimihito had much to both of their surprise. Pushing her lips against his as her hands wrapped over his and brought them to her chest. She wouldn't admit it but she was eager for his touch, just as she was as eager to start to run her hands over him as soon as he started to play with her breasts. Her hands following his muscles through his clothes, teasing him in turn.

The minutes would pass by, and both lovers felt their libidos rising by the moment. Kimihito was quite thankful he was wearing pajamas instead of something more constricting, and Cera realized it was a good thing she had her horse half facing away from Kimihito, she had taken off her skirt earlier and she could smell her own scent wafting through the room. Her negligee, along with Kimihito's shirt were tossed away somewhere in the last few minutes and both were feeling each others skin directly.

Breaking off their most recent kiss, Cera pulled back, voice breathy and soft as she spoke. "I...I think I'm ready…" It was an understatement, her body was burning with wanton lust, and her breath was coming in rapid pants. Not that Kimihito was any better, and Cera's eyes couldn't help but drift south, looking at the bulge Kimihito was creating against his pants, though she had no real frame of reference to go off of.

She didn't even realize it, but she had the urge to see what was under those clothes, and the next moment one of her strong hands had torn Kimihito's trousers squarely down, popping seams and stitches with contemptuous ease as instinct guided her, leaving him standing bare before her, and down one pair of pajamas.

"Hey! Well, I guess t-thats fine." Kimihito said with a small laugh, and it was obvious he felt rather nervous. Though Cera was a bit more focused on what her instincts were pointing her to, and watched Kimihito as he walked around behind her before her mind snapped back to full function.

Her nervousness back in an instant as she felt his hand on her flank and she looked away, taking a few deep breaths to try to calm herself before looking back to Kimihito and felt him pressing up against her. "O-Okay, please be gentle."

A moment later much of her worries were blown away, as she felt Kimihito enter her. There wasn't any pain, and while it felt...odd to say the least, that odd feeling just as quickly gave away to pleasure. While Kimihito did feel small compared to her, it didn't seem to matter to her body as when he started to thrust pleasure would radiate through her, her upper body quaking with each bolt of feeling that went through her. The longer they went, the more her body seemed to adjust, and the more pleasure she'd feel with each of his movements. If she was to take a guess by her look at Kimihito over her shoulder, she could tell he was feeling more with each movement as well.

Then she suddenly felt something quite warm flowing into her and she blinked. A few more blinks later and she realized what had actually happened, while Kimihito was looking quite embarrassed. She went to say something but he beat her to it.

"S-Sorry! It's been a while and you feel so good…" He looked to the side, but Cera would notice that he was still quite hard inside her, and she'd push back against him a bit.

With a lustful grin she didn't realize she was capable of, the centaur kept pushing until Kimihito got the hint. "That's okay, but the night's still young, and I have the stamina of a horse you know."

Kimihito grew a grin of his own, and a moment later was thrusting against her once more, just the second round in a rather long night.

-ISoaN **Lemon Ended** -

Cera blushed heavily as she came back from her morning run. It was the day after her and Kimihito had taken their relation up to the next level, and to say she had been embarrassed when she woke up this morning sweaty, naked, and clutching an equally naked Kimihito to her chest like he was a body pillow. It didn't help that she could feel how she was sticky inside.

She must have worn Kimihito out, as she was able to get away and give herself a quick shower without waking him up. Escaping out into the dark morning to go for a run that she had hoped would help clear her mind a bit and wake her up. Unfortunately it had done the opposite, the rhythmic exercise just gave her more time to think about what had happened the previous evening.

Thinking of the previous night brought two different emotions to her. The first being love, for it had been _amazing_. It had been everything she could have hoped for after they both slipped into the mood after the first round. He had been caring, and eager to please her and she didn't regret a moment of it. What she could do without though was the rising lust coming through her body everytime she thought about it. She didn't expect to be so...insatiable, but she was, much to her embarrassment. She had ridden Kimihito until he practically passed out from exhaustion and she could have still kept going.

Now here she was pushing open the door back to the house and she was pondering waking Kimihito up to continue. She had to stop herself, otherwise she'd end up bringing him harm! Foresight and concern like this was what all those years of discipline training were for. Well, not really, but they could be applied. Deep breaths, calming thoughts, soon enough she managed to center herself in the hallway, driving the spectre of lust from her body. Checking in to see that Kimihito was still asleep, she went to wash off and prepare them some breakfast.

When her boyfriend woke up and stumbled into the kitchen he was looking much like he had yesterday mid day. His body was rather sore but he was quickly recovering, and after some food he was back up to full strength. The man seemed to consider what he was about to say for a moment. "Going to be honest, I hope yesterday isn't a one off thing."

"It's not going to be." Cera said with surprising determination, before realizing that and blushing. "I mean, if you want. You could move into my room?"

"Heh, yeah I think I will. Now we'll be getting twice the exercise I guess. On that note, ready for the morning training?" Kimihito had his bokken already at the side of the room. Her embarrassment melting away at the normal routine, Cera walked with him out to the back yard, ready to keep up her well earned skills in tip top shape.

-ISoaN-

Kimihito sighed as he lay back against the couch. He wasn't currently at his home, instead he was at Daizaborou's. The police officer was currently fishing around for some sake for the two, along with Ryuko, who was practically draped over her own chair. The reason for the relative laziness right now was the insane heatwave outside, that had left the poor airconditioners around the town a complete wash. Cera was currently assisting the government agency in charge of settling liminal homestays and the like with dealing with the heat.

Well, 'assisting' was more like 'jumped at the call when a female monoeye agent showed up to conscript her' and while Kimihito didn't realize realize it, but 'dealing with the heat' was 'hauling blocks of ice like pack horse because the agencies hauler truck was already overfilled.'

So the three friends were more or less trying desperately to manage the heat, and Kimihito had to thank the gods that Daizaborou was tainted by that american co-officer of his and had started chilling his alcohol.

"So." Ryuko started from her chair. Bringing up the first words that weren't 'drinks please' of the visit. "Haven't seen you in a few weeks, how's life with horse tits?"

"Yeah, I see you on my patrols walking with her. All the way up to holding hands and think I saw you riding her around a few times." Daizaborou came back with the drinks and took his own chair. "Woulda thought she'd knock you six ways from sunday rather than let you do that."

Kimihito sipped the sake, looking a bit embarrassed. "Yeah she's actually started the riding her around thing. Apparently it's something centaurs do if they get a human boyfriend or girlfriend."

"Still only a boyfriend? Would have thought you'd have put a ring on her already with how you kept going on and on and _on_ about her over the years." Ryuko chuckled.

That chuckle was joined by Daizaborou. "Yeah, and you've only heard half of how long he was going on about that Ryuko. Only time he stopped was when he was going steady with Natsu. Though think I saw something while doing some...research. Isn't the riding thing more 'significant other' then boyfriend or girlfriend?"

"Hah! So boss already married the girl." Ryuko cheered. "Nice one boss, thought you'd never get a girl after bossette left. Though guess we didn't even rank an invite Daizaborou, and I was sooo looking forward to being a bridesmaid."

Kimihito had the urge to go over there and knock that tone out of Ryuko, but it was too hot, and he couldn't help but grin a bit instead. "Technically yes, Daiza, but we're not counting it, or well, we _weren't_ counting it. I'm not exactly sure if that's still the case though."

It really didn't help that Cera was getting more amorous with every passing day. Outside the house she was prim and proper and easily flustered, but as soon as the door was closed she was turning into a real firebolt. Kimihito had started to keep his ground floor blinds closed most of the time just to help hide when the centaur girl couldn't wait till bed time to get down to the fun. Not that he could say he minded in the slightest; this was good for his heart in more ways than one.

"Well, guess we're going to have to do without boss soon enough. He'll have to be chasing after kids and get pulled around by the ear." Ryuko sighed as another wave of heat hit the room. "Well, I'm starting to be able to handle sis and her minions better so I might be alright."

"A bummer; having you around made cleaning up those new gangs so much easier, but I think we can do without." Daizaborou shook his head and took a deep drink. "But how can I get in the way of love?"

"Might be able to still help with the last one, as long as Cera thinks it's a noble enough cause I can still help." Kimihito said with a wave. "So if you can actually bring us something that points toward them hurting others I should be able to get her onboard."

"Heh, well I'll take that then." Daizaborou nodded, and leaned back. "Haaaah, well I might have to ask you for tips soon enough Kimihito, there's a rather interesting wolf girl that's moved into the department. Think she's been eyeing me up."

"More like you _wish_ she's eyeing you up." Kimihito chuckled, and noticed a small flush come to Ryuko's face. "And what's this? Got yourself a 'good friend' too there Ryuko?"

"K-Kinda boss, her name's Mako. She just moved into the school cause her family moved here." Ryuko admitted with her blush growing even further.

The two boys both whistled, and then Daiza asked. "Think you can send us pictures if you take it out of highschool?"

One bottle to the forehead later, Daizaborou was going out to try to get some more for everyone to drink. While Ryuko was fuming a bit as steam came out of her ears from embarrassment.

Kimihito meanwhile was just laughing, most of the group might have scattered to the winds, but he hoped at least the few friends still left from the old days still hung around. He'd miss stuff like this otherwise. Though then he felt his phone buzz, and he took the old thing out of his pocket and checked the message.

"You okay over there boss? You went real pale suddenly." Ryuko raised an eyebrow.

Kimihito closed his phone and groaned, colour coming back to his face as he rubbed her nose and said. "Cera's mom's coming to town, this is going to be _great_."

-ISoaN-

Kimihito sighed as he finished cleaning the upstairs. Ever since he had moved down into Cera's room, the upstairs was more or less left untouched, and as such dust had accumulated everywhere. He was fairly sure nobody was actually going to be up here, but Cera _could_ navigate the stairs with only a bit of difficulty so he wasn't going to rule out her mother wasn't going to put the place under examination.

Not that Cera would have let him actually ignore the upstairs. To say the centaur girl was panicking was an understatement. The poor woman was positively frantic as she moved around the house trying to make sure it was all in good shape, and she was wearing a somewhat more dressy version of her normal top as she did.

Kimihito meanwhile was in his regular clothes, as he wasn't going to wear a damned loaned suit around the house and he didn't own anything better. The only bit of effort he had made to looking better than normal was combing his hair. The unnatural feel of his hair being in order had been bothering him all day, but at least he could probably get away without it tomorrow. He wasn't sure how long Cera's mother would be staying here but he was hoping it wouldn't be very long.

"Are you done up there?" Cera called out from downstairs, and Kimihito sighed.

With a shake of his head and a small grin at Cera's worries, he'd call back. "Pretty much, I think we've cleaned up enough. Unless she's going to go live in the furnace room or something."

"Ohh no, we forgot the furnace-"

Kimihito cut off his panicking girlfriend. "We _aren't_ cleaning _the furnace room_ , Cera. I'm putting my foot down there."

Further argument was stopped before there was a chance though as a knock on the door took both their attention. Kimihito making his way down the stairs as Cera freaked out and started muttering to herself about how things were "Unclean."

Reaching the door he'd open it and blink for a moment. It seemed much of Cera's figure carried in the family, but not quite everything. The centaur woman that was standing before him looked quite similar to his girlfriend, the same long blond hair, well toned arms, and the same bright blue eyes. The differences was that this woman that could only be Cera's mother had a much more stern expression, a bit of signs of age around her eyes, and somehow, even larger breasts than the younger centaur.

Seriously, he didn't think that last one was actually possible, and he briefly wondered if Cera hadn't finished all her growing yet somehow.

"You must be Kimihito Kurusu." The centaur woman said as she stared at him. "I am Aldreda Shianus, pleased to make your acquaintance finally."

"Yeah that's me. Nice to meet you as well. Feel free to come inside, Cera's in the living room." Kimihito nodded his head toward the mentioned room and stood to the side to let her in.

The woman stepped through, and Kimihito noticed the sword at her hip, just like Cera always seemed to have, and he could tell with a glance as she walked by that she was quite adept at using it, scarily so. For some reason a small bit of his mind clicked.

"Mother! I wasn't sure when you'd get here." Cera's voice shook Kimihito awake and he'd head to the living room to see Cera's mother panning her eyes around the room. Seemingly taking in every minute detail as she looked. Before wandering into the kitchen, and then into the hallway again. The centaur woman wasn't even trying to hide her appraisal of his home. When they passed the door to the backyard, she saw the now well worn out patch of dirt where they did their regular training matches and nodded. Returning to the living room, the two homeowners still in tow, the woman sat on the centaur chair they had gotten. Calling it a chair was a bit of a stretch, it was more like an extended footstool, but still.

"Your house seems suitable. And you have acquired things to see to my daughter's comfort." Aldreda assessed as she turned her attention to Kimihito again. "I was worried when I saw your scruffy appearance that you were just some kind of thug."

Kimihito and Cera both blinked. It was the latter that spoke first. "By my honour, mother, I assure you this man is no thug. And even when he kinda was, he still did everything he could to ensure I was comfortable."

Aldreda gained a small smile. "I know daughter, but I was wondering how he would react at being called a thug. Judging by his lack of reaction he either fully embraces such a mentality, or he has calmed down since then."

"Can we please stop talking like I'm not here?" Kimihito growled. "Or if you want to keep talking like that I can go out into the backyard and get some training in."

"Training? My, so devoted to practice. You and my daughter have seemed to have done quite a fair bit of it judging by those ruts." Aldreda said. "Though do you really think you need it today? I would have thought you'd be much more intent on making a good impression with me."

Kimihito's growl turned into a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, I think Cera can make my case good enough there. But judging by that sword on your belt, and the fact that Cera had to get some of her personality quirks from somewhere, I'm fairly sure you'll be challenging me to a duel or something before the day's done."

"How perspective." Aldreda chuckled into her hand. "I guess I may as well drop the pretext. You are indeed correct. I need to ensure that you and my daughter are able to co-operate like a proper centaur couple should. We must ensure the centaur bloodlines remain strong."

Cera chewed in her lip and said. "D-Do we really have to do this mother? Kimihito was able to fight me to a draw."

"Yes, for all I know you may have thrown the match to make that happen." Aldreda said as her hand dropped from her face and she was back to looking serious. "I say we get this out of the way sooner than later so that we can properly enjoy what time I am here for."

"Yeah I agree. Rather get this done now then have to worry all day." Kimihito agreed as he grabbed his bokken from the corner of the room and gave Cera a grin. "Let's go show your mom that we're good enough then."

Cera returned the smile to her boyfriend, though hers was shaky, and nodded. "Yes, let's."

-ISoaN-

Outside the pair of lovers stood on one side, side by side, while on the other Aldreda stood with stoic poise. All three were carrying training swords, and were taking a moment to collect themselves.

"Kimihito, I will hold her attention, you try to get around to her sides." Cera whispered, hoping she wasn't overheard.

Unfortunately, she was, and her mother commented. "No, he will try to hold my attention. This is at least in part to ensure he is strong my daughter."

"That's some _good_ hearing you've got there." The man blinked.

Damn her mother and her sensitive ears. Still she had a point, and she sighed. "Well, good luck then Kimi. Watch out, I've never even managed to bring my mother to a draw."

Kimihito nodded, and they all seemed to take that as the starting gun. Cera starting to circle around Aldreda even as Kimihito moved straight at her, his bokken raised as he looked for any kind of weak point.

Unfortunately, he found none.

The woman didn't have any openings, and she didn't seem like she was planning to initiate. Deciding to improvise, he struck forward, not trying to get past her guard but just trying to see how she'd react.

It was only thanks to years of training that he managed to yank his bokken back in time to block the woman's counterstrike. If Cera had the strength of a horse behind her strikes, Aldreda bore the force of a herd. He heard his bokken creaking as he tried to keep her at bay. Then she pulled back to swing again and he moved his grip, one of his hands coming up from the hilt to the back of the blade so that he could get some extra strength behind his blocks.

Aldreda's next strike turned into a block of her own as Cera tried to strike her from the side. The woman easily fended off her daughters strike though, and her counter attack forced the younger centaur back. Kimihito attempted to strike himself but once again Aldreda fended him off and struck back, his new position at least helped him hold her back this time.

It kept going like that; it was all the two could do to keep Aldreda from taking the offence. For all their attempts to hit the elder Shianus, she was practically untouchable. Kimihito felt that sinking feeling in his gut quite early on that they were doomed. He didn't quite know _how_ Aldreda managed to get this strong or skilled, but she was definitely a master of her art and the two of them were damn near children trying to flail at her.

Eventually the woman decided to end it, one strike caught Cera as the younger centaur was mid swing and sent her tumbling with its sheer force. Immediately after the woman hit him hard enough that his bokken cracked and broke as he tried to block, and a moment later he was skidding across the ground until his feet stopped.

"Hmmm...you able to still stand, Kimihito?" Aldreda's tone was neutral, giving away nothing of her judgement.

Figuring the loss was not a good thing in her books, he tried to at least put up something of a good effort. Forcing himself to his feet as he saw Cera doing the same he said. "Yes, I am."

Silence hung in the air for a bit, before he heard a few claps, followed by some laughter.

"Good." Aldreda's voice brought Kimihito's attention back to her. The centaur having struck her sword into the ground and was laughing into her hand. "Centorea, you have my blessing with him. A lesser human would be nursing multiple broken bones right now, but he seems more than fine." The older centaur's face broke into a bright smile. "I am happy for you my daughter, you've found a strong husband."

Well, Kimihito wasn't expecting her to be so happy sounding about it, but he didn't mind. Not when she said it, and not a moment later when he found himself in a near bonecrushing hug that was softened by two rather nice cushions, and followed by a rather deep kiss by his...wife, he guessed? Did this count enough as a marriage? He didn't want to have to go through one of those ceremonies, they looked hideously boring.

When the kiss started to drag on the two heard Aldreda cough and Cera dropped Kimihito with an 'eep' and a bright blush. "S-Sorry mother I was just so happy."

"It's fine my dear, but it is impolite to do that in front of guests. Save it for the bedroom!" The centaur woman's attitude had done more or less a complete about face now that she had given the two her agreement. The serious expression was replaced with a jovial, motherly one. "And by that I mean get going you two. I'll make something to eat but I want you two getting started on grandchildren sooner rather than later."

Kimihito noticed the smile had a rather...sinister tone underneath it. Maybe not sinister, but with the promise of motherly wrath if they didn't do as she was saying. Knowing that she had the skills to back it up, Kimihito would pull an equally confused and mortified Cera out of the room.

The next hour they spent in their room before dinner was ready was filled with initially awkwardness, followed by a burning out of some built up tension. While Aldreda was smiling from ear to ear just a few rooms away. Finally she'd get grandchildren to spoil even more! She was worried Cera would never get a boy, she had so little interest in the other centaurs, always talking about this boy from years ago.

But now, grandkids! And she didn't even have to wait for one of those silly human weddings. Now maybe she could listen in and make sure her new son-in-law was doing his husbandly duties...

-ISoaN-

A few weeks later, Kimihito and Cera had come to a conclusion. First, they now _were_ husband and wife as far as centaur custom went, and called eachother such in public and in their documentation now. Secondly, both of their warrior prides had been badly stung by their easy defeat to Aldreda. The elder centaur had gone home only a few days after she had arrived and the two had been stewing on their loss since.

It was the second that was spurring their current course of action.

"Do you have to go, boss?" Ryuko said with a sigh as she watched Kimihito attach a bag to Cera's side.

"Don't worry, we'll be back soon enough. I wouldn't miss out on your graduation after all!" Kimihito ruffled the younger girl's hair in a brotherly manner, Ryuko growling non-threateningly at the action. "We just need to go do some serious training. Cause even if we were the top of that tournament Aldreda kicked our asses six ways from Sunday. Who knows how strong the competition really gets? We gotta level up!"

"We are also counting this as our honeymoon, I hope we will be able to see much of the sights around the country, maybe we'll even make it to Okinawa somehow." Cera said with a nod and a smile. "But yes, as Kimihito said, we will come by every once in a while, and we still have our phones. Though if we don't pick up immediatly don't call back to soon, we'll probably be...indisposed." The centaur girl's face broke out into a bright blush at her own words but the smile was still there.

Daizaborou nodded and gave Kimihito a hearty pat on the back. "Yeah we'll keep in touch. And I'll check by the house on my patrol, make sure nobody breaks in."

"Better make sure boss gets back in one piece horse tits." Ryuko said to Cera, the centaur just giving a bemused sigh at the nickname for her.

"Thanks Daiza, and Ryuko, keep calling her that and I'll be giving you a lesson in manners when I get back."

Kimihito hopped onto Cera's back, and they started off. Kimihito waving back to Ryuko and Diazaborou until they passed out of sight of them. When they were on their own he'd turn to face back forward and hugged Cera from behind, ready for their coming journey.

To adventure!


	10. Chapter 10: A Meeting with a Minotaur

**A/N:** See A/N 2 at the bottom of this chapter for some important information about this chapter, and ISoaN. Sorry for the long delay all. As always. Like, Hate, See something you think could be different/better. Leave a review!

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own DLWMG

* * *

 **Arc 4: Chapter 1: A Meeting with a Minotaur**

Kimihito Kurusu was a child with something that one could call a poor childhood. He wouldn't call it that but some might. His parents worked overseas so he had spent much of his young childhood bouncing between family members. His uncle and Aunt in Osaka, were the first to take him in. Then it was his much elder cousin in Kyoto. Finally he had ended up with at his Grandpa's farm.

While some would consider living on a farm in the middle of nowhere to be a terrible life. Kimihito took to it like a fish to water. The adorable pre-teen would be seen walking around the fields with the tool of the season, making his own small patch of the field his own as over the years he lived there. Eventually though, it had to end. Kimihito found himself seated before his grandfather in the aging home's living room.

"Kimihito," The greyed and weathered man started, holding up a letter. "This came from your parents today. They want you to join them overseas they finally got enough money to settle down for a while."

"But gramps, I don't want to go!" The young Kimihito protested, "I like it here!"

"And I liked having you here too Kimihito, you've been more of a son to me then your father was." The old man gave a cheeking grin and nudged him. "Don't tell him that though."

Kimihito laughed a bit but it was short lived as his grandfather continued.

"Unfortunately though I can't just tell your parents no. But always know you will have a home here."

And that was the end of it, no matter how hard Kimihito tried to protest, he ended up being sent to live with his parents in a big city in Europe. The young child always remembering his grandfather's farm, the quiet days raising his patch of ground. It never left his mind. As the years passed, he'd grow from an idealistic child into an idealistic young man.

He spent much of his teens going from city to city along with his parents. He became quite adept in many skills, namely the art of languages and the skills of horticulture. All of it picked up in bits and pieces between each move. Despite all the travelling, he didn't set foot in Japan again until he was twenty years old.

-ISoaN-

"This your stop, kid?" The bus driver called back to the near empty bus. It would have been completely empty if it wasn't for the sullen lad in the back. Apparently he had had a death in the family or something given what the bus driver could piece together over the hours long drive.

"Yes, thanks. Have a good day." Kimihito replied to the driver and stepped off the bus onto the dirt road. He was standing before a small village that hadn't changed a bit since the last day he had set foot in it. The man sighed. The outsides were the same, but the people changed.

"What am I doing, stop mopping, Kimihito!" The raven haired man said, and slapped himself on the cheek. Picking himself up, he set off. Walking down the familiar path through the town, he headed for an equally familiar place. His grandfather's farm. The old man had passed only a few months ago. Kimihito and his parents had come back for the wake, the burial, and the reading of the will. It was a line in the will that had brought him back to the old farmstead.

 _To Kimihito, I leave my farm and everything on it. In my old age I haven't been able to maintain it as well as I would like, but I am sure he will be able to bring it back to its former glory._

Kimihito had been a bit worried at the line that his grandpa hadn't been able to keep it in the best shape, and had prepared for the worst. Though at the same time he couldn't help but chuckle a bit at his gramps having left it to him. His uncle hadn't been too happy about it but that's what he got for not visiting often enough.

Unfortunately, he hadn't prepared enough.

"Good gods!" Kimihito was shaken out of his funk by the sight of the house. There were holes in the roof, the fields were overgrown with weeds, and he was fairly sure the barn had collapsed. The whole farm looked like the sty and the sty looked even worse.

"Ahh, are you the newest member of our little town?" Kimihito heard an old voice say from behind him. Turning around he'd see a familiar face.

"Kimihito, it's been years! You've grown up quite a bit since that little lad that would cause havoc all over the town square." The elderly mayor grinned from under his large mustache. "It's too bad about your grandfather. Now I'm the oldest one left in the village. As for the house, I already got the carpenter to come up here and take a look at it when I heard one of his grandkids was moving in. We should have the house up and running in a few days."

To say Kimihito was surprised at how helpful the mayor acted was an understatement. As it was, it was so much of a surprise that he completely pushed his funk off for now at least. "Well, thanks Mr. Mayor." He never did learn the Mayor's name when he was a kid.

"Think nothing of it. Now I know you used to half run the farm when you were here, but we have a few days. So let me give you a refresher." The Mayor nudged Kimihito in the side. "Gets me away from the wife for a bit anyways."

-ISoaN-

Kimihito wiped the sweat from his forehead. It had been a week and a half since he had come to the town, and six days after he had into the farm proper. He was surprised at how fast the bearded man had fixed up his house, and his budget thanked him for getting out of the room above the town inn.

Not only was he back in his house, but he had part of the field in something pretending to be a good shape. Neat rows of plowed land, just waiting for seeds. He had those all at the ready, just waiting for after lunch to happen. He only had maybe a quarter of the fields actually done, but with only hand tools, the tractor was a write off, he wasn't going to get all those fixed for a while. Oh, he could see them growing before his very eyes. That was a while off yet, but what a beautiful image a good harvest was. Prettier than the prettiest girl.

Surprising him, he heard the sound of tires rolling up the dirt road to his farm. He turned to the van with confusion.

-ISoaN-

"Damn, how did I end up out here?" Kuroko Smith muttered to herself as she drove the MON van down the dirt road. She was fairly sure she had taken a wrong turn somewhere. What kind of person didn't at least live on a paved road! Whoever this Mr. Kurusu was he really should invest in some paving.

"Heh, I think I'll like this place. Seems like nice enough country." Said the other passenger of the van, and the entire reason they needed a van at all.. The large minotaur woman took up near the entire back of the vehicle, tall enough that she still had to duck even while sitting down. Her limbs bulged with thick muscles that could knock down a tree, so they counted their blessings the van's iron was firm enough to last the ride. The biggest two bulges were in her 'development'; Kuroko was jealous, but she'd never let anyone know but it was there.

"Well, we're almost there. I can see the farm just ahead." Kuroko said back to the liminal. Judging by the look of the place it might not have been the best place for a homestay, but it seemed okay enough. She was quite surprised to see a young man out in the field though. By the looks of it he was the only one here too. Different people for different stripes, she guessed.

"Wait here, I've got to do some paperwork first." She pulled the van up to the farm and stepping out. The dirt clinging to her leggings. "Tch, now I'm going to have to wash these."

Kimihito blinked at the eye-fetching black haired woman that stepped out of the van. Her skirt and formal jacket seemed rather drastically out of place. While she approached he noticed the symbol on the van.

Liminals had been revealed to the world a few years back and had started to integrate into wider society shortly after. Kimihito had met many of them, from all corners of the world. He didn't know what the Japanese branch of the liminal homestay program was doing at his farm though. "Hello?"

"Hello." Ms Smith said, and looked at the clipboard she brought with her. "Are you Mr. Kurusu?"

"Uhh...yeah?" Kimihito was now very confused, he hadn't sent anything to the liminal placement group in the government had he? Though wait…."Are you perhaps looking for my grandfather? He unfortunately passed away a short while ago."

"Damn, really? Well what the hell am I going to do _now?_ " If this woman was normally professional, it didn't show in her exasperation. But inspiration struck. "Though wait, no, you look about right for the person on this form." Smith sighed, and handed the clipboard over to Kimihito, showing the man that the profile was indeed his.

Kimihito blinked a few times at that. "I have...absolutely…" He noticed something on the board, namely a note in the 'anything you would like to say' box. A note from his grandfather.

 _Hey Kimihito,_

 _I know I left the farm in rough shape, but I hope by now you've got it fixed up. This was one of the last things I thought to do, you'll need some help around the farm and who knows. The lady situation in town for guys your age is pretty poor. So better be nice if you get a girl here young lad, might be your only shot._

 _~Gramps_

"Dammit, gramps." Kimihito sighed. "Yeah, I guess I am the one on here. Uhh, you mind telling me who I've signed up for?"

"Yeah yeah, hold your horses boyo." Smith waved with one hand as she grabbed the clipboard and flipped some pages. "Sign here, here and here, and while you're doing that I'll give you the basic run down."

Kimihito did as requested, and Smith gave a rather bland, bored sounding description of the homestay program. He'd receive a stipend every month to help pay for the homestay's food and living costs, a rather sizable one which made him a bit worried about just what he had gotten. She also mentioned a few things about appropriate actions between a homestay and host. It was just the basic stuff. A rundown that if he did anything illegal he would be in jail. Smith couldn't help but tease that if something happened to form between him and his homestay, well that was legal.

Then it came time to meet his homestay, and Kimihito would be led to the back of the van, which he noticed was visibly sagging on its rear axle…Before a near breathtaking woman stepped out, and it wasn't just because she was a head and a half taller than him. The liminal sported a pair of horns, messy brown hair, a long shirt that did absolutely nothing to hide her impressive figure, and mile long legs. Also, she was stacked like a snowfort.

He could only blink at the sight of her. She had to be one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Even with her towering over him and the obviously non human parts he couldn't help but stare like a gormless gob as the woman opened her mouth to speak to him.

-ISoaN-

Cathyl was getting bored. Sitting in the back of the van with nothing better to do then try to listen through the walls. She couldn't really catch much, even with her large ears she could only catch her hosts timber and not his words. She could tell he was a man, and had a reasonably deep voice. Not really much to go on.

Though she heard the voices starting to come closer, and there was a bang on the back door and she heard Smith say. "You awake still Cathyl? Time to meet your host."

"Finally." She grumbled, and a moment later she'd throw the doors open and stepped out of the van. The vehicle creaked in protest as she stepped to the ground and finally got to stand up to her full height of seven and a half feet. Feeling her spine crack she'd look down to see her host.

Honestly, he wasn't much to look at. His appearance not helped at all by the open mouthed gape he was currently putting on. The man couldn't even be as old as her, and she was only twenty three. He had black hair, the hint of some muscles, and seemed to be covered in dirt. She couldn't help but grin for some reason though.

"Nice ta' meet ya." Cathyl reached a hand down, and the raven haired farmer took it and gave it a shake. Managing to not flinch when she put a bit of extra strength behind her grip.

Her grin grew into a full blown smile.

-ISoaN-

The sun was firmly setting now, and he had managed to plow most of the field. Tomorrow he'd hopefully have it set enough to start planting. At the moment he was at his table though. Across from him sat, rather tentatively in a creaking chair, Cathyl. The minotaur woman had already taken the guest room he used to sleep in when he visited his grandfather for her own and now they had settled down for dinner.

"Sorry 'bout the chair, Cathyl, Smith mentioned something about sending some furniture for you over the next few days but I'll try to throw together some new stuff. Most of the chairs and tables need replacing anyways." Kimihito said as he put the first plates on the table. He had made quite a fair bit more then normal as he figured the minotaur girl would eat much more then he would.

He also had to avoid using any of the meat in his freezer. It was painful and annoying, but until he was sure on the girl's ability to handle it, he wasn't going to complain. Rice and salad would have to do.

"It's fine. Don't need ta put in that much effort. I can make myself some places ta sit. Thinking I'll help ya with the fields, too." Cathyl leaned forward to start attacking her bowl, the chair letting out an alarming groan as she shifted her weight. "Reminds me of home, maybe I can show ya a thing or two myself."

"If you can, I'd be really grateful." Kimihito said with a grin. "I learned from my gramps, but it's been years, and I'm kinda floundering a bit here. Don't want to get into like, getting chickens or anything till the fields are all prepped, and I don't have any equipment other than hand tools."

"Heh, well that's an easy enough fix. Ya got a plow? Just hand it ta me and I'll have ya fields done in a few hours."

"I'll go check the tool shed in the morning, for now lets just get you settled in here." Kimihito certainly didn't mind having the girl being so eager to help, but he felt a bit bad about putting his homestay to work so soon. "First though, I was a bit distracted earlier, but we should probably get to know each other if we're going to be living together."

Cathyl nodded, and leaned back again as she put down her finished bowl. "Yah, probably should shouldn't we? Well, name's Cathyl Tarus, from the United States. How bout you?"

"Kimihito Kurusu, from Japan. Though I've lived a fairly long period of time in Europe." Kimihito replied, and offered Cathyl a second bowl. The large girl nodding. "I only moved here just a bit more than a week ago. I did live here for a bit with my grandpa but I have to admit, I'm still a tad out of my league here."

"Heh, guess it was lucky ya got me as a homestay then, I've got lots of experience on a farm. I'll help ya get this place off tha ground if you let me be a partner here." Cathyl chuckled, an action that caused a rather interesting movement of her mammoth chest.

Kimihito took a moment to actually realize what she had said, notably, a moment after her jiggling had settled down. "I don't see any problem with that. Really doesn't even seem like much of a difference at all really."

"Yah, but this way my name's on tha deed, and I can't get deported as easily." Cathyl grinned, and having finished her seconds she reached over the table and sealed the deal with a rather hearty handshake.

-ISoaN-

The next day saw the two out in the fields, Kimihito had a bag of seeds that he was spreading to the turned earth. Cathyl meanwhile, was using a plow that Kimihito had found in the broken down barn, working the field that Kimihito hadn't managed to complete the day before. The process was drastically speeding up with the addition of a second set of hands.

It was a tad distracting to Kimihito though, Cathyl had subbed out her longsleeved t-shirt combo and jeans, for a much rougher outfit. She was wearing what amounted to her aptly cowprint underwear, underneath a set of farmers coveralls. Said coveralls were doing a very bad job of covering all. The distracting part was both Cathyl's well muscled arms, and her massive breasts that were threatening to pop out of the coveralls top.

Seriously, if Kimihito didn't know already that she was a minotauros, he'd have been able to guess nothing other than that with how well developed she was in the chest department.

"What yah staring at Kimihito?" Cathyl called over. "I got a fly on my cheek or something?"

Kimihito shook himself awake and focused back on dropping in the seeds. "No, nothing like that, though what's with the black marks under your eyes?" He said, referring to a pair of black paint spots the girl had put under her eyes.

"Anti-glare paint, helps keep the sun out of your eyes." The cowgirl said with a grin as she leaned on the plow. "Also, all done over here. You need some help with planting?"

Kimihito looked at the sixth of the fields that he had actually managed to plant in. He really should have had much more of this done by now, but well, distractions. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind some help. You start at the far end and we'll meet in the middle."

Passing off some of the seeds to the cowgirl they went back to work.

-ISoaN-

Kimihito didn't know it, but Cathyl had caught the reason for his distraction, and couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Humans, or at least this one, were so much more nervous about that kinda stuff. If he had been a minotauros bull then he'd have been coming over and trying to talk his way into her pants by now. Some of her friends might have even let him.

Instead he was just throwing glances across the field, and they'd only known each other for a day. Really, she might have taken it a bit worse if it wasn't that she'd cast him a few looks too. He was quite tiny, at least compared to her kind. But good muscles stood out, big or small. The guy had actually made a pretty good dent on this field before she had got here, and he had been using a hand hoe.

The fact that he was wearing only a t-shirt and shorts at the moment helped a bit in that regard. The t-shirt was clinging in all the right places as he sweated in the spring heat. Spreading some seeds through the row she had just plowed she hummed a small tune to herself. This'd make things a lot easier when she have to get him to help in a few days.

Stupid minotauros body. She could already feel her top stretching a bit against her bosom. Fresh milk starting to slowly swell them, and it had been a few days since her sisters had last helped her before she left for Japan.

She'd make sure the boys hands didn't wander or do anything too lewd! Otherwise he'd find out himself just why you don't want to get kicked by a minotauros or a centaur. She hoped his hand's were a bit rough already though. Stimulation helped make it go faster...

"You okay over there Cathyl?" Kimihito shouted across the field. Shaking the minotauros from her little daydream.

The minotauros blinked, and this time it was her turn to shake herself awake as she flushed just a tiny bit. "Yep, just thinking a bit about how your farm doesn't have any animals. Ya got ta fix that or we'll get no income during the winter."

"Hmmmm," Kimihito rubbed his chin. It wasn't a bad idea. The barn wasn't in good shape but he could probably get it up to something. It should be more than enough for one or two animals for now. "I'll wander into town. Someone there probably could tell us about getting some. Maybe the farm down the road."

Cathyl nodded, happy that she had managed to cover her little slip up. Stupid liminal sex drive. Moving back to seeding the tilled ground she'd do her work as the day slipped away. The girl eager for another thing as the sun slowly approached its end, making her giddy.

Kimihito's cooking was _just that good._

-ISoaN-

The next day, Kimihito would head into town. Cathyl marching along at his side. Cathyl almost felt a tad embarrassed as she towered over the farmer, drawing the eyes of everyone they passed. The only thing that made it a bit less embarrassing was that, when they pulled up to the neighbours farm, there was another liminal there. A sheep woman that waved at them as they came in.

"Hello! Welcome to Popuri farms!" The liminal said and approached them. "You are the two that live up the road right? We saw the government truck heading up that way and were wondering when you'd come into town. Ohh, but where are my manners, I'm Merino. Nice to meet you."

"Kimihito Kurusu." Kimihito said, with a half bow.

Cathyl grinned and reached out a hand, which Merino replied in kind. "Cathyl, nice to see another liminal here."

"There's a dog girl at the tavern too, but yeah." Merino pulled her hand back after the shake and turned, motioning for them to follow. "It's nice to have another liminal around. Let me show you to the owner. You guys are here probably for some livestock right?"

"Yeah, thanks." Kimihito said as they followed.

After one long talk with the owner of the farm - a rather attractive, pink haired woman a bit older then Kimihito named Popuri - the two were heading back to the farm with some chickens. Cathyl was fine with chickens. Kimihito figured they'd be easier to look after with the state the barn was in. They were something they could afford.

-ISoaN-

Unfortunately that meant having to carry the chickens back home. For whatever reason Popuri hadn't had any cages to carry them with. So Kimihito was carrying three chickens, while Cathyl was trying to deal with a half dozen herself. The creatures were surprisingly calm, but they were...curious to say the least.

"Dammit! Get out of there, you damned chicken!" Cathyl growled, seemingly shouting at her breasts.

Kimihito just tried to keep his eyes off the sight of Cathyl trying to dig the chicken out from where it had settled in between her rather significant breasts. Shifting the chickens in his arms a bit, and just ignoring the one sleeping on his head.

-ISoaN-

Two days after the chickens were purchased and settled into a coop behind the barn, Cathyl's problem came along. Kimihito had noticed the woman was getting a bit more irritable. Shifting her outfit constantly. Really he was almost wondering if she was going on her period. Well, he wasn't quite right. It had nearly the same effects though.

Because of that belief, he was rather stunned silent when he found himself suddenly pinned to the wall of the barn shortly after lunch by a panting Cathyl. The woman easily able to manhandle him with her size and strength. Panting hard as she demanded. "Kimihito...milk me."

Yeah, Kimihito's brain was quite short circuited for the moment. Resulting in him saying a rather eloquent. "What?"

"Milk. Me." Cathyl clarified. "My breasts are swollen too much, it's hurting and I need to be milked."

Well, this was honestly something Kimihito wasn't expecting to ever hear. This soon into knowing someone. Cathyl didn't look like she was going to take no for an answer though. Not only that she said it was hurting, and he wasn't going to let his liminal be in pain when he could help! Even if it was something this embarrassing.

Now if only he could get his body to respond properly. Instead of muttering out on repeat. "Uuuu."

Then Cathyl bapped him lightly on the head. "Dammit Kimihito, I'm not doing this 'cause I like you, you know! It hurts and you'd be doing a bad job if you didn't help me!"

Despite her words, Kimihito noticed she was sporting a rather noticeable blush. Well, whatever, don't focus on that now. Focus on getting the brain to work first! Luckily he'd soon be able to say something intelligent. Namely. "Yes, I'll help. Though I don't really know what to do…"

"The way you say that makes me think you know exactly what to do." Cathyl half stared at him. She was right, he had seen some stranger types of porn after all.

Moving into the barn, Cathyl would undo the straps on her coveralls, letting the top drop and revealing her massive chest. Massive still didn't do it justice. Especially since she seemed to have gained a cup size or so from the milk in them. Cathyl already had set up a stool, and some bottles.

"Uhh, why bottles instead of a bucket?" Kimihito asked as he moved behind Cathyl. It would be absolutely to embarrassing to do this from the front when she could stare at him while he fucked it up!

Cathyl seemed confused at the question. "We're going to keep it aren't we? Minotauros milk is real good for people and liminals. Much better than cow milk."

To say Kimihito's mind nearly had a nuclear meltdown would be an understatement. The poor man not expecting Cathyl to actually be planning to well...share...her breast milk. Guess she was more cowgirl then she seemed maybe?

"Start already dammit! You don't have any idea how sore these are right now, and I can't milk myself." Cathyl complained, and Kimihito finally got to, work? Did this count as work?

Regardless, he reached around Cathy and let his hands sink into the woman's breasts. The pillow mounds practically absorbing his fingers, and he had to fight a monumental battle to keep from groping the girl. He was fairly sure he'd probably end up dead if he did that. Instead he just moved his hands, and with a few deft pinches. The entire process was started.

-ISoaN-

Things were...a tad awkward after that. At least they were for Kimihito. Cathyl seemed to take it mostly in stride. It was actually a bit off setting for the minotauros. She was used to things like what had happened just a few days before being commonplace. She had expected Kimihito to be embarrassed and the like sure. She hadn't expected him to practically start avoiding her. Especially since it seemed to be more out of worry that she was offended at him then anything else.

Really, who would have thought that stripping off your top and making a guy milk you after you barely knew him for a week would be awkward!

Cathyl wasn't going to let this stand any longer though. Today she'd solve this little problem! At breakfast. When he couldn't escape.

She usually woke up earlier than he did, but she didn't make breakfast. Now though she'd show off that she wasn't actually a bad cook. Making up a nice enough breakfast for the both of them. Though Kimihito would probably notice that the pancakes tasted a bit more...sweet than normal. Same with the milk. The minotauros still seeing no issue with that.

When Kimihito woke up and made his way into the shared kitchen-dining room. He found the door closed behind him, and Cathyl standing there with a grin on her face. He'd take a moment to wake up and see what had happened. Blinking at the breakfast. "Thanks Cathyl, sorry I didn't wake up earlier."

"Bah, don't be like that. Ya cook all the time. I can do it myself sometimes ya know?" Cathyl grinned, pushing him forward and into one of the chairs. "Also, we need ta talk. You've been ducking out since ta milking. Makes me worry I'm going to get ta boot."

She didn't actually worry about that. Afterall he really couldn't kick her off the farm now that she had partial ownership of the place. Not to mention Kimihito wasn't anything like that. She figured that if she started 'strong' he'd feel worse about it.

"E-Ehh? N-No! That wasn't what I was doing at all." Kimihito replied, waving his hands ahead of him as if to ward off her words.

Cathyl though just replied with a stare. Not saying anything as she munched on her own breakfast. Watching him, almost unblinkingly. While she normally was rather hotheaded. Her species could be...passive? Patient? Those weren't the right word but she couldn't think of anything better. Regardless, her kind could be like this if they tried.

So she kept staring. As Kimihito slowly ate his food. His expression noticeably getting noticeably more nervous under her unblinking watch. Until finally he sighed. "Fine, I guess I have, and I'm sorry. It's just...kinda you know...awkward? I mean you've not even been here a month! And well. T-That happened."

It wasn't that Kimihito hadn't enjoyed it, but well. He was worried he had taken advantage of the cowgirl! The only reason she had let him do it was because she had to, and he felt bad that that had to be the situation. He was thinking about getting her some of those milking bottles so she wouldn't have to force herself to let him do-

Then Cathyl bopped him on the back of the head again. Nearly knocking him into his pancakes. "I know what you're thinking. Stop that ya dunce." The woman glared down at him. "I was planning ta have you do that for a few days before. If I wanted some other way to get milked I woulda told ya beforehand."

"I'll admit it was a tad awkward though." Cathyl scratched the back of her head with a grin. "But well, I didn't mind it. So no beating yourself up over it, and no more avoiding me got it? Not going to have ya thinking I don't like you."

Kimihito wasn't sure what it was, but he couldn't keep himself from smiling a bit. The tensions inside him that had been building since then flowing out of him in a relieving wave. "Well. I can't really keep thinking that after you say that can I?" He couldn't help but tease though with a smirk. "Though I seem to remember you saying you _didn't_ like me in the barn there."

"Different things dumb ass!" Cathyl half shouted. Slamming the table with her palms hard enough to nearly break it.

Then she turned her head and blushed a bit. "Though I am going to need you to do that again tomorrow. Before they start getting sore again…"

-ISoaN-

Life progressed like that, the two slipping into a pattern. Wake up, tend to the crops, tend to the chickens, lunch. The afternoons were usually either more crop tending, or heading into town to let Cathyl see what human settlements were like. Sometimes they'd go over and visit Merino. Every saturday Cathyl would drag Kimihito into the barn to help with her personal issue. Each week it became easier and less embarrassing for both of them. It even managed to become a bit fun, something to look forward to.

Soon enough though the seasons started to change, and the temperature was starting to drop. It'd be harvest time soon. The field that Kimihito and Cathyl had put together was nearly ready. Corn drifting in the afternoon breeze as they walked by on the path to town.

"Heh, field's looking good." Cathyl grinned proudly at the sight. A stalk of elephant grass hanging out of her mouth. A habit she had fallen into ever since discovering them growing on the banks of a creek running through the property.

Kimihito swore she did it to tease him. Especially in more recent days. The grass served to bring attention to her mouth, and to lips he was growing every day more interested in. It really was a strange world that he lived in. Considering what they did every Saturday, and that he hadn't even kissed Cathyl yet, or gotten into any sort of official relationship with her. Made him wonder what would have happened if he had gotten multiple minotauros. He might not have survived…

His words carried none of his thoughts. "They do. It's nice to see them grow in so well. Was sure they'd be all ragged and I'd lose the first year's crop for sure."

"Well, good thing ya got me then ain't it?" Cathyl patted Kimihito on the back. An action that would have once sent him stumbling was now one he was used to and stayed upright.

"It really is. Thanks again for all the help you've been for the last few months Cathyl." Kimihito's grin in reply caused Cathyl to turn away with a bit of a blush. It was things like that that helped keep Kimihito both sane, and slowly going crazy.

On one hand, it made him fairly confident that Cathyl liked him. Honestly he would have hoped she'd like him a bit to let him be helping her with her milk problem. On the other, it was driving him crazy that he couldn't find a good time to ask about it. He didn't want to just bring it up some day around the dinner table! Kimihito had read to many books as a kid, he wanted to make it right and properly romantic when he asked.

Salvation it's said, has a a way of showing up when you least expect it though. As the two were wandering down the hallway, a solution to Kimihito's problem slammed into them like a freight train. Or at least, slammed into Cathyl like a freight train.

"Omph." Cathyl couldn't keep the air in her lungs as Merino slammed into the tall girl's stomach. The sheep girl and Kimihito had a fairly friendly relationship, but Cathyl and Merino had hit it off like sisters. Along with another pair of liminals that lived on another farm on the far side of town called Cot and Ton.

"Hey Cathyl! You hear about the fireworks festival tonight?" Merino said as she pulled back from the cowgirl, falling in step beside her as they went. Popuri catching up a moment later, her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

"Y-You shouldn't run off like that Merino. I can't keep up that well in this dress." The pinkette said as she managed to get her breath back. Though she didn't seem really that annoyed as she stood up and smiled to Kimihito and Cathyl. "Hello you two, having a good day today?"

"I was just telling them about the fireworks festival tonight." Merino said before either of them could. "I think they should go."

Popuri smiled brightly at the two. "Ohh, they would make a good pair there. You two should go! I'm looking to see if I can get Kai to go."

"And I was thinking about asking Rick." Merino admitted with a blush.

"Wait wait wait, hold on." Kimihito put his hands up and signaled for them to stop. "Fireworks festival? Why didn't anyone tell me about this before."

"Ohh well, we would have told you yesterday, but you two didn't come into town. There are so many events around here that it kinda slipped our minds till then." Popuri admitted. "We all go down to the beach and watch the fireworks."

"Yeah, you two have to come!" Merino said. "You'd look adorable together."

Kimihito and Cathyl both blushed luminescent, and Cathyl would try to push Merino to the side so she could continue onto the town. "Don't just say that outa nowhere!" The large woman said as she started forward. The other three following behind soon enough.

"Well, that wasn't a no. So are you going to go?" Popuri giggled to the side.

Kimihito realized this was literally the universe handing him his chance on a silver platter. A blush on his face as he said. "I wouldn't be against it. So why don't we go Cathyl?"

Cathyl took a moment to ponder it over. Given who Merino wanted to come. Popuri's brother that she was sweet on. Cathyl knew what kind of event this was…Honestly, she had been looking for a chance to talk to Kimihito properly about this for a while. She had hoped the guy would have come out and asked her out a while ago, and she was half thinking she was going to have to do it herself. This though, this was him trying at least. "Yeah, what time's it at? We'll go. Might not see you there though."

Cathyl's chuckle at the last line brought a blush to the face of literally everyone there. It wasn't exactly wrong either. Popuri knew that many couples tended to...well slip out, or find their own places to watch from. Things tended to get a bit, touchy. Half the kids in the village owed either the fireworks festival, or the later in the year moonlight festival for their conception after all…

"Great! It starts as soon as the sun goes down." Merino said, and grabbed onto Popuri's hand. "We got to go ask Kai and Rick, so see you around." A moment later she had taken off, pulling Popuri behind her and leaving the two standing there a bit awkwardly.

Kimihito looked to the sun, and realized they probably only had an hour, maybe two till it started. "Well, looks like we might want to head back so we can throw together something to eat. Might as well make a full picnic out of it." Kimihito grinned over to Cathyl. It was a shy grin, one accompanied with a blush.

A smile matched by the minotauros. Both of them realizing that this was going to be the first step toward something more. As long as one of them actually found the words to say it this evening. Though Cathyl did decide to get started on that early, not with words, but by picking Kimihito up and slinging him over her shoulder. "Hold on tight Kimihito, I'll get us back there faster." And with that she took off for their shared home at a pace the human wouldn't have had a chance to match.

-ISoaN-

The two arrived just in time, thanks to another trip on the minotauros express. Kimihito over one shoulder and bin filled with food and a blanket held in the other hand. They even managed to get a pretty good spot, a bluff overlooking the beach. Down below they could see some of the older couples in the town. Further down the bluff they swear they saw Merino and Rick too.

Dropping Kimihito down on his feed, Cathyl threw out the blanket and they both sat down just as the first firework set off. Kimihito having decided to try to sit beside Cathyl. A plan that was quickly dashed when the minotaur picked him up and planted him in her lap. Kimihito's brain nearly short circuiting at the two rather soft mounds that were surrounding his head as Cathyl pulled him back a bit. More fireworks started to go off in the distance. The two settling in to watch. Kimihito's short circuit slipping into calm, comfortable, silence.

Eventually, as the fireworks continued to go on, and Cathyl had started to get into the food, Kimihito would speak.

"Cathyl...Umm," Ohh god he was choking at it. Come on Kimihito, man up! "Would you like to be my girlfriend!"

The last line came out more as a barrage of words then a coherent sentence. Causing the minotauros to chuckle. The movement making Kimihito move with the rise and fall of Cathyl's breath.

"Heh, was wondering when ya'd ask." Cathyl finally said, grinning down at the human. "Was going ta ask ya myself if ya didn't tonight. Woulda made ya regret it. So yeah, I'd love ta."

Kimihito sighed happily at the response, and relaxed. Leaning back against Cathyl again. Cathyl herself leaning back until they were laying down. Watching the fireworks burst above them. Her arms wrapping around his waist and hugging him to her as the night wore on, luckily still warm with summer heat.

Eventually though Kimihito would shift. Pushing himself up into a sitting position as he turned to look at Cathyl. The liminal's hair spread out across the ground below her, and the illumination from the crackling fireworks lighting her face. Cathyl sporting an expression that looked half quizzical, and half challenging. Helped by the smirk on her face as she seemed to realize what he was planning to do.

Her grip loosened enough for him to turn around, and a moment later their lips touched. Kimihito and Cathyl letting the rest of the night pass away in a haze as they finally managed to get that kiss, and many more after.

* * *

 **A/N 2:** Well now that you got down here I'll tell you. I don't really like this chapter. I'm sorry for the massive delay, school life and everything was not kind to me. The past few months, and I needed to write something a bit more serious then the fluff that is ISoaN or Spokes of Life. This chapter finally came to me a month or so ago and well. I don't really like it. It's not baaaad I don't think, but it's just not as pizzazzy as the last few chapters were. This is both the shortest opening chapter, and I think it'll be the weakest (something I worry may summarize this entire arc but hopefully not.) The next chapter's highly going to at least make up somewhat for the shortness of this chapter, but in general this is probably going to be the most relaxed of all the arcs. If you've ever lived on a farm or a place with lots of orchards or the like, you probably know the feeling of just a slow summer. One where you spend most of the days just out in the field napping under a tree because its too hot to do anything else and the house doesn't have AC. That's to some extent the feel I'm going for with this arc. Relaxed, chill. It also doesn't help that well, the amount of characterization Cathyl gets in the comics makes Zombina look like she's gotten a book written about her.

Either way, now that I've gotten that off my chest. I hope that it's just me being negative on myself, but I understand if you the reviews for the chapter might be a bit negative. Stick around though! There's going to be a much more interesting Chapter 2 for this arc! (I hope.) Also I still hope you review! If you like it then that's great to hear, if you have criticism it's nice to know. Every review helps give that bit more motivation to either make another chapter for you all to enjoy, or prove anyone negative wrong and pull the quality up :P

Now the important parts. First, I'm not sure where they came from, but thank you all for voting so much! There's 110 votes for Arc 5 already, and out of no where in the past month the Manako brigade has shown up and she's jump to #1 in the poll, followed by Tio and Lala. Ms Smith who was at #2 for so long has dropped off to 4th. The poll will be open for the next two chapters so get your votes in! After that there will _not_ be a poll for Arc 6. As after arc 5 I am planning to go back and re-write a few scenes (Rachnera's chapter 3 might get a rewrite), as well as well as do a chapter or two of fluff bits for the previous arcs. Then I'll open up Arc 6. For now we're likely looking at 7 Arcs total before I end this as actually completing this adventure is likely going to be an impossibility as long as Okayado keeps adding new characters. Also my usual editor is planning to leave after the 7th arc. Though we'll see when the 7th rolls around.

Either way, sorry for the big A/N. See you all next chapter! Which will hopefully be coming out in May if I can stick to a schedule.


	11. Chapter 11: A Gift fit for a Minotaur

**AN:** Well, not much I can say on this I haven't said in other stories. I really don't know what happened here to be honest. Well I do, I hit possibly the worst case of writers block I ever had mixed with an extreme amount of RL mess. This chapter has been written and re-written so many times before it finally reached the state that I felt like I could release it in. I am really sorry to everyone whose had to wait so long for this chapter. I am not going to put a timeline on the epilogue but I plan to try to work on it as hard as I can. Also please see the AN at the bottom of this story too for more important info.

Edit: Removed a squib section that got missed when I was cutting out some stuff from beta editting.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own DLWMG, though apparently Okaydo agrees with the Cathyl-Kimihito ship.

* * *

 **Arc 4 Chapter 2: A Gift fit for a Minotaur**

The air puffed in front of Kimihito's face as he breathed out. His lungs were burning and his arms creaking in pain as he lifted another sandbag and dumped it onto the wall. The pelting rain drove against his body. Thunder rolled through the dark heavens above.

It wasn't the most pleasant day Kimihito had ever had, but he had to keep going. Behind him Cathyl and Rick were driving a pair of shovels into the ground. The two filling the bag Popuri was holding. When it was full the bag was then handed to him, and another handed to Merino. With the water level of the river near Popuri's farm rising by the moment, if it hadn't been for Cathyl being able to fill a sandbag with a single work of the shovel they'd have been lost long ago.

Lightning cracked over head as a gust of wind blew Kimihito's hood back and a splash of water from the rushing river splattered onto him. Even with everyone here they were working as hard as they could to deal with the unexpected storm. Apparently, according to Popuri and Rick, these weren't exactly an unknown occurrence around here. He wished someone had told him that before he moved! He didn't remember any storm this bad back when he was a kid.

Though admittedly, his grandfathers and now his own farm was situated on the high ground enough to not have to worry about this kind of thing. Another splash caused him to have to shake his head to clear his vision even as he could see that at the very least, the water wasn't rising as quickly anymore, most likely because it had started to spill over the far bank. He was rather thankful that they didn't need to cover the entire bank on their side either. It was just the part they were at right now that was lower than the rest.

Still that didn't mean he could slack off now, taking the next sandbag he threw it onto the wall. The water running down from his face and hair was slipping in past his jacket and into his clothes, leaving him damp and cold, only the burn of exercise driving it back for now.

"You're doing great everyone, just a bit higher and we should be fine!" Popuri shouted over the driving rains and wind. Even as she passed another bag to Merino. The sheep girl not looking anywhere near as winded as Kimihito was. Darn liminal physiology.

The sky flashed white. a tree in a nearby field was struck by lightning, the thunder booming around them not even a second later. The burning tree's fire soon extinguished by the rain and the flood waters that pooled around it's base.

"I don't know how much longer we can stay out here." Kimihito growled through his soreness. "That lightning might be coming for us next."

"We just got ta work faster!" Cathyl somehow managed to hear him.

The minotaur punctuated her statement by driving her shovel deep into the ground. Dirt filling sandbag after sandbag almost faster than Popuri could prepare and hand them off. Kimihito on the other hand kept pushing himself further and further. Sandbag after sandbag, even as a few jets of water sprayed through the barrier, inevitable with something as roughshod as this.

Then the last sandbag was placed. "There! That's enough." Rick said, the water no longer rising against the barrier as the far fields were turned into a temporary swamp. "Come on, we need to get inside."

Pulling the unused bags and the shovel with them, the group set off in a run through the wind and rain. Reaching the warmth of Popuri and Rick's farm a minute or so later. The howl of wind sounding around them even as the house shook a bit.

Kimihito was thankful they had moved the chickens inside before they had left the farm or the damn things might have blown away in this wind. Looking over at Kimihito as they stood just inside the farm he asked. "Do we want to try making it home?"

Cathyl seemed to be considering it. Before she could respond Popuri grabbed them both and pulled, or at least tried to pull, them further inside. "No! You two can stay here till the storm blows over. It's totally unsafe to try heading back now. Anyways, we owe you two a warm bath and dinner at least."

"Heh, well if ya put it that way, guess we'll hang here for a bit." Cathyl replied with a grin, finally giving in to the pulling when Merino started to get in on it. The sheep girl at their back pushing them forward.

"Yeah, you two did that for us, we aren't going to just let you walk right back out into that rain." Merino said. The liminal seemed like she was about to say something more when Lillia, the matron of Popuri's farm came in. She was a sickly looking woman. Lilla's physical weakness didn't keep her from having a rather stern frown on her face as she looked the group over.

"Rick go get towels and everything for the bath please. I've got to find something for Cathyl to wear while her clothes are drying." The woman said, surprisingly seriously. Kimihito had to wonder just how the woman would have been if she wasn't so sick she was barely able to walk at times. Though the frown turned into a smile when Rick did as his mother asked and she turned to Kimihito. "As for you Kimihito, you should be able to borrow some of Rick's clothes for the night. Don't worry if you have to take them home, you can return them tomorrow if that happens. Now Cathyl, please come with me. I'm sure we have something that we can do for you!"

-ISoaN-

It'd be a few minutes later when the bath was ready, and Kimihito got to learn that with how much land the farm had, they not skimped on making a nice bath. As it was the place was actually big enough for all five of the work crew, and probably a fair bit more to use at once. More like a large pool or a public bath then anything else.

As it was all five of them were indeed in the bath at the moment, Kimihito having borrowed one of Rick's bathing suits, and the boys and girls separated by a drawn curtain. Probably for the best really, though Kimihito was a tad disappointed to miss out on the sight of Cathyl with quite literally a few sheets worked into makeshift coverings.

"Thanks for the help again Kimihito. Without you and Cathyl the farm would be underwater at this point." Rick said with a sigh as he washed his hair.

Kimihito was just content to for now, rest and let the warm water work the kinks out of his back. Though he did wave a hand toward Rick. "Not a problem. We weren't going to just let you guys flounder here."

"Still, thanks-" Rick started, sounding like he was going to continue, only to stop when they both heard an odd noise from the other side of the heavy curtain.

"T-That's not quite a-appropriate, not with them just on the other side of the curtain." Merino replied to an unknown question or display. Seemingly not realizing that her voice had climbed enough for them to hear.

"Aww come on, you got to hear about how it's going on my end." Cathyl replied, also just a bit to loud so they could hear. "I want to know how things are going with Rick. You two gotten to second base yet?"

Both Kimihito and Rick blushed at that. This was not something they really wanted to hear, at least not with the other present. The two looking toward the curtain with a blush. Then the two toward their towels. A few moments later they had the towels wrapped around their ears.

That was better.

-ISoaN-

Kimihito coughed once, then twice, then turning into a series of hacking sounds. Flopping back against his bed with a sigh and a sniffle Kimihito was not having the best of days.

"I still can't believe a little rain like that made ya sick Kimi." Cathyl said. The minotaur was sitting nearby. Bringing a cold towel up to his forehead she gave him a sigh. "Really, ya humans are just so soft sometimes."

"Next time maybe you should stack the sandbags then." Kimihito replied weakly. "All that splashing water's what did it."

"Ehh, just get better will yeah?" Cathyl replied with a slight blush. "It's sunday you know and you're not in any sorta position to help with that."

Kimihito flushed a bit himself, but that might have just been the fever. "Sorry."

"It's fine, call me if ya need anything more. I'm going ta start dinner." Standing up, Cathyl headed out of the room, closing the door to their shared bedroom with a sigh.

It was taking near everything she had to not practically smother Kimihito at the moment. For all she was playing it off her kind didn't really get sick. Seeing him looking so weak worried her to no end. She damn well wasn't going to let a cold end up taking the first truly nice human she had met from her.

Of course she knew that sicknesses like this were just normal things for humans, but there was still an irrational part of her that couldn't just shove that to the side.

Then she realized she had been leaning up against the wall beside the door this whole time and flushed with a bit of embarrassment. Kimihito wasn't some wimp, he'd pull through fine, and she shouldn't be worried about the human. More specifically she shouldn't be _this_ worried.

So instead she was incharge of making dinner. The minotaur went to check the fridge for what they even had. Before eventually settling on well, eggs and salad. They didn't have much in the fridge. Kimihito would normally do the shopping in the morning but with how he was feeling she hadn't had time to go and do it herself.

At least they had a relatively constant source of eggs now with the chickens doing well in the barn. As the rather meager meal she was working on was cooking the minotaur girl's thoughts started to wander. Her thoughts this time though drifted to well, much less worry, much more 'dangerous.'

Namely the thought of having a mildly helpless boyfriend in the next room over sent small thrills through her. Her thighs rubbed together almost unconsciously as she considered just what she could do with him.

Then the timer went off and she was wretched back to the real world. Flipping the eggs and almost immediately slipping back into her daydreams.

"I think my minds trying to tell me something." Cathyl muttered to herself. Her and Kimihito had been to the point of dating for a while now, and well she certainly didn't mind the progress they had been making. Indeed, she had been deliberately keeping them on a slower pace. Now she was starting to hit the end of how long she could hold back.

Cathyl bit on her lip, despite her appearance, bold steps weren't exactly her kinda thing. If she had to admit it, she was actually rather timid when it came to all this. Still, if her body was acting like this then…maybe the time for caution was done.

Turning down the heat on the stove to keep the now cooked eggs warm, Cathyl was quite happy Kimihito was stuck in the other room. There was no way he wouldn't make a joke at her expression right now. Well, actually he probably wouldn't. She just didn't want anyone else to see her blushing and pressing her fingers together nervously.

Then she half slapped herself, she needed to get a grip! She'd go into this properly! Looking down at the apron Kimihito had somehow gotten her at the same time he had gotten his own much smaller one she got an idea.

-ISoaN-

 **LEMON INCOMING**

Kimihito was not having the best of days, sure, he certainly didn't mind having his liminal girlfriend playing nurse all day. It was just too bad he had to be sick. Though really he was fairly sure Cathyl was overblowing this, he didn't feel _that_ bad. It wasn't anything worse than just a standard 24 hour flu.

Still, he was a bit light headed, even if he played it up just a bit for her sake, and his throat did hurt. He'd rest today and tomorrow he'd be right back up and fixing some of the damage that rainstorm had done to the roof.

Pushing himself up against the headboard as he heard the heavy footsteps of his liminal partner coming closer he wondered just what she had made. His thoughts left him completely off guard when the door opened, and revealed Cathyl in an apron.

Only, an apron.

Kimihito might have stuttered out something that sounded utterly dweebish. He remained silent thanks to the utterly captivating sight before him he managed a slightly more distinguished gobsmacked silence.

"Like it?" Cathyl said with a semi-embarrassed smile. Stepping closer in a motion that threatened the integrity of the ties that held the apron in place.

Kimihito's response was to continue to make a complete ass of himself as he silently stared.

Embarrassment was quickly turning into embarrassed annoyance in the minotaur girl. "You better say something soon Kimihito."

The somewhat growl promising a very pissed off girlfriend in the future snapped Kimihito out of his daze. He had to cough for a moment before saying. "I-It looks amazing. You look amazing."

"Good, now eat up quickly." Cathyl softened up at that, though the blush remained. The liminal putting the plate in front of her host.

Kimihito had the oddest feeling this was a set up for something, or it could just be Cathyl not feeling comfortable going anywhere further. He'd be a tad disappointed if it was the latter but he wouldn't complain. The sight of so much of the minotaur girl's skin was already pretty damn solid for him.

Finishing the food, and putting the plate to the side he had to wonder at something. The toast had made his already dry throat even moreso. "Umm, Cathyl, could you get me a…."

The reason Kimihito was trailing off was that the minotaur was currently midway through pulling the top half of the apron down. "I-I thought you could umm...drink directly from the tap…"

Cathyl's blush grew and she couldn't help but look away. "That sounded much better in my head."

Kimihito blinked, and gulped. He was fairly sure Cathyl had already been swapping her milk for the stuff they bought from the store but he guessed he was about to get confirmation on that one. "I-I'd love to."

The next thing he knew Cathyl was hugging him against her cleavage. "Then g-get started. Today's Sunday s-so I have a lot b-backed up."

He didn't wait any longer, or he was sure either him or Cathyl would spontaneously combust. He gave a bit of foreplay as he brushed his tongue over the bud pressing against his lips. His hand drifted to Cathyl's other breast, giving it a pinch he knew she liked from their weekly milking sessions.

Cathyl's moan above him meant that he was doing something right, and when he actually applied a bit of suction the flow started. He got all the confirmation he needed as well. The sweet milk spreading across his tongue and down his throat even as his hands pinching and squeezing caused more to run down his hand and arm.

The sick boy felt something else, a heat coming with the milk he had never quite felt before. It wasn't just his normal arousal at the situation, that had already been causing him a rather hard to hide problem since Cathyl walked in. Instead it was something else and he felt his body almost for lack of a better word, roaring to life.

"N-Noticing it Kimihito? If our milk is d-drank directly it well, h-helps 'stamina.'" Cathyl said as she noticed his stiffening at the heat. Her hand drifting to push down the sheets and his pajamas, wrapping around his growing problem. "This certainly seems to be noticing."

Kimihito didn't know it, but Cathyl was somewhat marveling at the heat he was giving off, before she started to stroke him. Working him off even as she forced him to switch breasts. His hands starting to roam as well, sliding down her sides to remove the rest of her apron and expose her entirely.

Before he could reach down to her more sensitive areas Cathyl jumped several steps ahead. Climbing up onto the bed the minotaur girl straddled him, and Kimihito felt the tip of his erection brush up against somewhere even warmer. Then he felt himself surrounded in warmth.

"Haaaaah..." The liminal girl moaned, evidently the years of hard work in her life had helped the two avoid one of the difficulties of a first time.

Kimihito was now presented with not just the sensation of himself inside Cathyl, but also the sight of the tall girl exposed entirely above him.

"I think it just got a bit bigger." Cathyl said with a grin. "Always good to get c-confirmation you find me hot."

Kimihito finally got passed the small legion of frogs in his throat. Smiling up at Cathyl and even managing what he felt was a rather awkward wink. "You shouldn't need confirmation for that."

Cathyl chuckled a bit at that, before rolling her hips. After that time quickly started to lose meaning as the two moved. Cathyl's milk was indeed quite effective, and the two went at it again and again.

 **LEMON OVER**

-ISoaN-

The next day Kimihito awoke from probably the most comfortable sleep in his life. The sensation was helped quite a fair bit by his pillow, blanket, and bed rolled all together. Sometime during the night Cathyl had pulled him even closer and he was currently resting atop the larger liminal. Cathyl's iron grip kept him from exactly moving anywhere despite his wakefulness, so he took the opportunity to think.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, his thoughts were focused on what life might be like going forward. While they had been dating, they hadn't done anything beyond some skinship and well, the milking. This was...many steps beyond that. Judging by how Cathyl was still hugging onto him like he was her personal favourite teddy bear, and he was rather sure he had passed out first the night before, Kimihito was pretty sure she didn't regret what happened at least.

The man would have to be lying hard to himself if he was going to try to say he regretted it either. It might have been a bit early, but he wasn't going to complain. Though...he was thinking he'd need to do something soon. Maybe he could go into town and ask the mayor, if he remembered right there was a bit weird of a tradition around that.

Then he felt Cathyl starting to stir beside him, and a moment later the minotaur girl opened her eyes and let out a long yawn. "Mmmm, feeling better? Ya certainly look glowing."

The smile that accompanied Cathyl's words caused Kimihito to stop short for a moment. Whether it was still the afterglow, or something else, she looked positively stunning at the moment even with her hair still mussed from the night before. Though he also got to see something that he was pretty sure nearly nobody did. Last night he had managed to slip Cathyl's hair free of the bindings she had kept it in and even now the long locks were splayed out over her shoulders as she propped herself up on her elbow.

"Definitely, and I could say the same about you." Kimihito said with his own grin. "You look amazing by the way."

The raven haired man couldn't help but dart in and give his girlfriend a kiss, drawing a rather adorable blush on the cow girl's face.

"W-Well, good!" Cathyl looked away, Kimihito finding the expression rather cute. Though a moment later the boy would find himself pulled into an even deeper kiss, leaving him quite breathless. "I hope ya don't mind but I'm hoping that'll be a regular thing."

"Like that would be an issue." Kimihito grinned back after taking a moment to breath. Unfortunately, before the two could start again, there was the sound of the rooster crowing, and they realized that their duties for the day really should be done first. "Though I think we'll have to feed the chickens before they decide to come looking for food."

-ISoaN-

A few hours later, after the chickens were fed, Cathyl was checking the plants and Kimihito was in town getting some food for the rest of the week. The former unaware of the latter's intentions.

Kimihito walked passed the supermarket and knocked on the mayor's door. "Hey Mayor Thomas, you there?"

The house beyond was quiet and no response came after a few minutes.

Letting out a sigh, Kimihito lightly groused to himself. "Hmph, the old man must be wandering around town."

Heading over to the park where the old man usually was at, Kimihito couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at a pair of girls that were running down the road ahead of one of the grandaughters of another local farmer. It wasn't their outfits that drew his attention, even if the twins apparently dressed quite a lot like Cathyl or Merino, it was more the fluff and horns that pointed out they were obviously not human. Seemed that the village got another two liminals living within it. Though they didn't seem intent to stop and chat as they passed by, being chased by the young human girl.

He couldn't help but grin a bit at the sight as the three disappeared around the corner. It was always nice to see the liminals getting more and more integrated. Miss Smith had sent him a message that apparently they were considering laxening the requirements on liminals so they might just see even more of them soon.

Finally, reaching the town square, he saw the mayor sitting on one of the benches.

"Ahh, Kimihito, what brings you down to the square! It's not often I catch you off that farm of yours these days." Mayor Thomas said with a wave. The old man giving him grin and signalling for him to come over. "Though, I must admit, if I had a beauty at home like you do I'd definitely not want to be out to often."

"Actually, I came into town to talk to you about something." Kimihito sat beside the diminutive old man on the bench. "And more specifically I came to talk to you about Cathyl."

The mayor looked concerned. "Ohh she didn't get sick did she? That would be dreadful after you two really helped out the poultry farm. Thank you again for that by the way. Most of the rest of us were making sure Yodel's farm didn't flood too."

"No no, I was sick for a bit but she's fine." Kimihito waved off the mayor's concern. "I was actually more wondering about something I overheard my grandpa talking about. He said he gave his grandma a blue feather?"

The Mayor sputtered a bit, forcing Kimihito to give him a few slaps on the back. "You younguns, moving along so quick these days." Thomas recovered after a few more coughs. "But young love always is a thing to see. Did your grandfather mention what exactly that kind of feather means around here?"

"Well, he mentioned about giving it to grandma a bit before she moved in." Kimihito offered, he had an idea what it meant but he wasn't sure.

"Yes." Thomas nodded. "Around here it's the equivalent of giving rings for those fancy city folk. Though back in your grandpa's day everyone would have balked at things like you and your girlfriend living in the same house before marriage. Still, if you are ready to take that step. There's a bit of a tradition around here."

Kimihito leaned forward, looking out over the park, though his attention was firmly on the mayor's words as the man continued.

"There was at one point where we were thinking about keeping a few in town just to make it a bit easier, but a community decision at the time made us decide not to. So you'll have to do it the same way your grandpa did. Going and getting the feather yourself!"

Kimihito blinked. "Wait, you mean like, going out and plucking it off a bird?"

"Or finding some feathers near their nest yes." The mayor said, leaning in conspirationally. "The government doesn't know this, but this town's known about the liminals for quite a while. There's a small flock of harpies that live in the woods near here, and they are the source of the blue feathers."

Kimihito somehow managed to blink harder. "Harpies? So what, I just go up and ask them?"

"Heh, if it was that simple it wouldn't be much of a tradition. For one, we don't keep a map of where they are so you have to find them yourself. Two, well, there's a reason the blue feather became so symbolic. Only someone that really wants to marry their one can get one, the rest usually end up seduced by the harpies and kept there as mates."

"..." Kimihito stayed stock still for a moment, looking like he was going to try to say something, before sighing. "That is quite the tradition. Well, guess if that's how it is around here…"

"Don't worry lad, I'm sure you'll do fine."

-ISoaN-

Kimihito spent the grocery laden trip home wondering just how in the hells he was ever going to get enough time to go hunting the woods for a bunch of harpies. Really maybe he could just explain it outright to Cathyl but that would spoil the surprise.

Lucky for him though, the solution presented itself on its own. He had passed the mailman on the way home and hadn't thought of it. When he actually got inside he found Cathyl going over the mail with a notable pout on her face.

"What's the matter?" He asked, stepping closer to the liminal curiously.

"Nothing, just bad timing. My mom wants me ta come back for a visit, I'll probably be gone a week. Maybe a bit more." Cathyl still pouted though. "And just when things were getting really fun."

"I'm guessing I can't come along then?" Kimihito asked as he started putting the groceries away.

"I wish, but there's no guys allowed back home unless they are someone's father, otherwise they can't leave. So I mean you _could_ come along, but we'd be there for at least nine months. Don't worry though I'm sure you'll get a chance to visit later."

Cathyl's last sentence brought a blush to Kimihito's face, and her own after she realized what she had implied. The minotaur blushing brighter by the moment but wasn't retracting her comment, and Kimihito didn't know quite what to say. Though this did give him the chance he needed.

After nearly a minute of increasingly awkward silence, Kimihito finally broke it. "W-Well, that's fine then. When do you plan to leave?"

"Apparently my mom's already sending Miss Smith up this way, so I'll be leaving tomorrow. Guess it's better though, this way I'll get back faster too."

Kimihito felt a shadow move over him as he put the last of the food away, and turning around he saw Cathyl towering over him with a grin.

"Though that does mean we have all day t-to...do that you know." While she started strong, the Minotaur ended up flushing and stumbling over her words rather quickly. Though she covered it a moment later by picking up Kimihito, hauling him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and carrying him toward their bedroom.

-ISoaN-

Cathyl sighed and leaned against the window of the Human-Liminal Exchange Service van as it drove through the endless fields that was the american midwest. Really she was happy to be seeing her family again, but she wasn't kidding when she said things had just been getting fun. While she had been rather terrified of how things could have gone when she decided to well, do what she did, it had turned out great.

The minotaur couldn't help herself now though, liminals had well, a rather active sex drive. She hadn't known what it was like before so it was easy to suppress it, but now? Now that she knew how it all felt? She wanted to get the driver to turn around, get back on the plane to Japan, and as soon as she got home jump Kimihito and not let him go for a whole week.

At the very least if they kept on going like that, she was pretty sure that they weren't going to have issues bringing Kimihito along next time she came home for a visit.

Looking at the passing landscape she realized they were getting close now, and soon the van passed through into the outskirts of the village. Minotaur girls of various heights, ages and build worked the fields, or went about their daily life. Honestly, it was quite a peaceful place, not even the noises of tractors or the like to interrupt the air.

Soon the van pulled up in front of a familiar single story farmhouse and the government driver unlocked the vehicle. Cathyl nodding to the woman and stepping out of the vehicle before it turned and left. With a sigh she walked up to the gravel path to the farm house before the door flew open and the youngest of her sisters barreled out of it. Barely fifteen the girl was still rather short but full of energy. Moments after Cathyl was crashed into by the miniature missile the rest of her family was outside as well, Cathyl finding herself mobbed by a half dozen other cowgirls.

-ISoaN-

Kimihito watched the van drive down the road and into town. From there it'd be off to the airport and Cathyl would be out of the country for a week and a half. It wasn't terribly to much time, but it hopefully would be enough to find those harpies and get a blue feather.

Step one, was figuring out where the harpies actually _were._ He knew they were around the village somewhere, they couldn't be too far, but he'd need to go ask the few married men in the village.

Namely, that meant the local botanist, a man called Basil. He was a nice enough guy, though he tended to be roaming around the wilderness around town. Heading into town he hoped maybe he could manage to catch the man before he headed off.

Instead though, he'd end up being rather lucky, and ran into the man on the road. The bearded older man was face down in his notebook as he walked down the dirt path.

"Hey, Basil." Kimihito flagged down the man. "Can I ask you something?"

"Mmm?" The man paused for a moment and looked up from his notebook. "Ahh, Kimihito, sure sure as long as you don't mind walking and talking. I'm just heading out into the forests again."

"Okay," Kimihito started to follow Basil as they started walking again. "Actually, the forest is probably where I'll be going soon anyways. You uhh, went through the Blue Feather thing right?"

Basil looked up from his notepad again, before blinking. "Yes I did, I can only guess why your asking." The man gave a grin before chuckling. "I guess you're wondering if I can tell you where the harpies are?"

"At least giving me a general idea if you could." Kimihito asked as they walked. "I don't even know where to start."

"Heh, well I can do a bit better than that. Come along and I can at least get you pretty close."

Kimihito nodded, following Basil as they headed toward the woods beyond his farm.

"Ohh I've been meaning to say Kimihito, your farm looks like it's coming along nicely. It's been grand watching it growing better and better every week when I pass it by." Basil said with a grin to the younger man.

"Thanks, though I'd be nowhere near this well off if it wasn't for Cathyl." Kimihito rubbed the back of his head.

Basil's grin grew just a bit. "And guessing our little town's going to get a new member in full soon then. Hope you know that weddings around here are a town wide event. Hope your ready for a lot of pats on the back."

Kimihito just blushed a bit awkwardly, but didn't say anything against his words, resulting in him getting the first of said pats.

"Though first you gotta get to those harpies. Don't worry they are nice enough girls, but they do get into their 'role' a fair bit if you end up having to talk to them. Keep it in your pants though and you'll be fine."

"Thanks...I guess?" Kimihito wasn't quite sure how to answer that.

"Seriously though, don't accept an invite for tea or anything."

-ISoaN-

"Here we go."

Kimihito jumped a bit. The man had fallen asleep on his feet practically, zoning out the long droning one sided conversation Basil had been having with him. There was only so many things he could hear about plants and still care.

Looking forward though he found they weren't quite in the forest anymore. They were, but they were facing a cliff that seemed to climb into the clouds.

"This...is the place?" Kimihito asked. The hesitation in his voice rather obvious.

"Yep." Basil started. "It's pretty intimidating but the harpies are up at the top. If you can get up there you'll be able to get a feather. One other thing. Do not accept help from the harpies to get up there. That counts as a 'loss' as far as they are concerned. Help coming back down is fine though."

Kimihito nodded. "Help going down, not going up. Okay. How far up does it go?"

"Ehh it's not to bad, just keep focusing to the next ledge instead of thinking that." Basil replied. Giving Kimihito a pat on the back he'd turn to head back. "See ya back in town, good luck."

Kimihito looked at the wall of stone again and gulped. Well, he wasn't going to back out of this now. It wasn't actually quite as bad as it might have seen when he looked at it closer. It wasn't like there was stairs or anything, but he could see what seemed to be a series of handholds built into the cliff. The grips likely carved in long ago for other villagers.

Taking a few deep breaths, Kimihito approached the wall fully and grabbed the holds. As he made the way up the wall, he became thankful for the farm work. Working on the farm had given him strong arms and legs.

One hand over the next. His feet followed to keep him from falling back down. Kimihito tried to drive thoughts that Basil never _had_ told him just how far up the mountain went from his mind.

The first break seemed to come early though, it couldn't have been more than a few minutes of climbing till he came to a large ledge. He flopped down on the grass there. His arms were burning just a little bit, his breath a tad ragged. It was nothing he couldn't stand though.

He gave himself a minute before he pushed himself back up and stared at...an even larger wall of stone. The farmboy craned his neck to look up for the next ledge. With a roll of his shoulders he set to work.

Even with its extra height, it wasn't beyond his capabilities. Kimihito once again focused on putting one hand beyond the next. The man working his way up through the air until he once more he reached a lip.

Only to see another even taller cliff face before him.

This was going to be some work…

Minute after minute, hour after hour, he pulled his way up the mountains. Each cliff face was getting more tiring, and he was practically wishing that a harpy would come along and offer him a lift as he found his arms turning to jello.

Then he pulled himself up onto another plateau, only to find that it was the last one. Rolling onto the grass he saw no further cliff face, just a cave, a moment before his body gave up for the moment and he passed out.

Or at least that was his body's original plan. Instead before his vision went, he heard an effeminate squak. A harpy was near.

Kimihito pulled his head up. The harpy feather! He had to get that or this whole climb was for nothing.

Some people had different ways of grounding a harpy in case they were the sort to fly off, leaving a would-be suitor featherless. The farmboy chose a net. It had only made the climb harder, but it was worth it. He held it in both hands and, forcing himself on his feet, slowly tiptoed forward.

Around a boulder was one harpy in question. Blue of hair, sitting on a rock, giving her talons a manicure, and...venting some woes?

"You'd think that after climbing all the way here, any man would want to stay with us right after! But noooo. It's always that other special someone they got. Hmph!"

That's right, Kimihito thought, slowly stepping forward. He still was so short on air, but he held his breath. Just keep talking.

"And they want me to stand guard and humour anyone who comes up? _'Oh Iia, it's just today'._ Girls, it's always 'just today!'"

Closer, clooooser, and the exhausted farmboy was looming over her, just as her grumpy tirade was hitting its peak. His hands were sweating.

He loomed over her.

His net loomed higher.

And...

"WHAAA!"

The harpy shrieked as she was ensnared. In reflex she kicked Kimihito with her powerful legs, and rolled comically off the rock.

When she stood, she flapped her wings. No flying for her. "RUDE! I'm supposed to offer you a lift up the mountain first!" She dropped all mopiness and snickered cunningly. "Well you know the rules! You want your feather? You gotta catch me!"

The chase was on. For fliers, harpies were fast runners, and Iia was quick on her feet. Kimihito dived at her, but she leapt up high in the air, apparently good at jumping too!

"OOF!"

Only to graze the cave's roof. As she did, Kimi made his real dive, grabbing hold of her talons

"Here, birdy birdy!" He shouted as they came tumbling down.

The fall wasn't exhausting, but it did send them rolling. The harpy would try to kick away, but Kimi climbed determinedly just as he'd climbed the cliff earlier. Now he was in a good position to pluck from her, and as his hand gripped the first feather, a great reprieve hit him.

I'm just kidding, they stumbled down a ramp.

"Oofs" and "Ahs" coming from them both, the two would spiral down towards the end of the cave, where a quaint house awaited them. Many a blue-feathered harpy was there as they gossiped, until one pointed towards the barreling duo heading right for them.

She pointed out too late.

By the time Kimihito stopped, he was holding one solitary blue feather, worth more than diamonds to him, in his hands, and at least twenty more were blanketing his face. He lost vision.

-ISoaN-

Waking up with a start Kimihito felt very, very stiff. Even trying to sit up drew a pained groan from the man. "Guh, guess that's what I shoulda expected climbing all that stuff. I'm just lucky I didn't fall."

Then he blinked and remembered that he had actually made it to the village proper. The human noticing that there was a harpy sitting nearby. Compared to Cathyl this girl looked almost childlike in her proportions, but her eyes betrayed that she was probably at least his age.

"Hmph I can't believe a guy like you managed to get up the mountain without help. I mean yeah you look like you've been doing some farm work." The harpy looked at his arms, and Kimihito would realize he wasn't wearing a shirt. "But what, you've only been here a year or two right?"

"Good guess, and where's my shirt?" Kimihito replied with a bit of a frown. How rude.

The harpy shifted and tossed his shirt, and pants, back at him with her foot. "We took them off to clean it. You were super sweaty and dusty, not like that last guy that came up here."

"Sis! Stop being rude to him. He got up here so he's plenty strong." Another harpy said as she came in. This one bore a strong resemblance to the first one but was a bit taller. "Good work by the way! Though guessing you aren't here to stay with us are you? After all that running for a feather earlier..."

The harpy stared at him with what seemed to be an attempt at puppy dog eyes. Her wings hugged underneath her chin.

Kimihito shook his head before throwing his shirt on.

"Darn, here just for the blue feather then. We're really going to have to move one of these days at this rate." The harpy sighed. "Unless you got any friends you could send our way?"

"Ehh, I think the guys in town are pretty well taken at this point." Kimihito shrugged. "Though the village probably would let you girls stay there. Everyone knows about you it seems afterall."

"Humph, moving off our ancestral mountain, I mean really." The first harpy pouted in the background.

The second harpy meanwhile cut her off before she could say more. "Anyways! You made it to the top of the mountain and got a blue feather so you get one free ride back down the mountain. Unless you want to stay for a night?"

Kimihito had to shake his head again to the hopeful looking harpy. The liminal sighing and looking deflated before she perked back up. "Okay then, I just had to ask. Now you get your pick of any one harpy to take you down to the bottom. I don't recommend sis she might just drop you."

The first harpy seemed to think about it for a moment, before shrugging. "...I might."

-ISoaN-

One airlift down to the base of the mountain and a long walk later, Kimihito was back home, with only the better part of a day having passed by.

He should have waited, because now he had all this time to worry about how he was going to present it to Cathyl.

* * *

 **AN2:** So some potentially bad news for all. Due to a career change I may be dropping off the face of the earth for a few months this year, not exactly different then normal but yeah some prewarning. There's also a very solid chance that the arc after the Tio-Manako-Lala (votes still up till the Epilogue is posted) arc will be the last one that will be voted on for some time. As after that I think I'll focus a bit on a few ships I've been sitting on before returning the votes.

So get your votes in! Tio is currently ahead with 41 votes, Manako's in second with 34, Lala in third with 32, and Smith in 4th with 28. The total of 189 votes on the poll is shocking, thank you all for your interest in this story even if I've been really bad about giving you all updates.

Thank you everyone that has favourited and followed this story, as well as those that have left reviews, for your support, feedback and encouragement.


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